Bittersweet for Build-It-Right

Citizens group got everything except 50-metre pool

By AMY PUGSLEY FRASER City Hall Reporter

While politicians from every level of government were cheering Wednesday’s announcement of a new regional rec centre in Clayton Park, not everyone was pleased.

That’s because the centre, which features a six-lane track, four gyms and two 25-metre pools, will not be home to a 50-metre pool.

"The announcement is really bittersweet," Susan Kirkland said in an interview Wednesday, "because we fought long and hard for a 50-metre pool and I really feel that the aquatic side doesn’t have the same kind of facilities available."

Her Build-It-Right group had been lobbying government for the larger pool so that it could accommodate diving, paddling, synchronized and competitive swimming of a national and international calibre.

"Based on the research we did, we felt a community of our size could and should manage a pool of that size," she said of the centre’s 98,000-person catchment area.

However, she stresses that she’s "thrilled" about many aspects of the centre, which is slated to open in the fall of 2010.

"I think it looks like a fabulous facility and I think it will be wonderful for the community and I think it will be wonderful for HRM. But I think it’s a missed opportunity in terms of aquatics."

The CEO of Sport Nova Scotia said Wednesday the much-needed facility will change the sport scene in Halifax, and across Nova Scotia.

Halifax, like Nova Scotia and Canada, is in an infrastructure crisis for sport and recreation, Jamie Ferguson said in a release Wednesday.

He cited a 2005 Nova Scotia Health Promotion and Protection estimate which found the sport infrastructure deficit to be between $88 and $93 million. The figure does not include new facilities that were needed to meet the demands of new sport programs.

"Sport organizations need facilities to help foster an interest in physical activity and to build membership, while on a competitive level, sport organizations need facilities that meet technical requirements in order to host events and to keep local amateur athletes close to home where they can train throughout the year," said Mr. Ferguson.

The facility will provide opportunities for expanded programs and introduce new ones that don’t currently exist, he said. It also means that every participant — from novice to Olympic-calibre — can participate, he said.

"Sport provides benefits in so many areas, including health, education and social development, and this facility will see more Nova Scotians . . . with an opportunity to reap those benefits than ever before," Mr. Ferguson said.

Sport Nova Scotia is a non-profit, non-government organization representing over 60 provincial sport organizations and more than 160,000 members.