Kudos from Cochrane on Pool Assessment

On Friday, August 8, Herald Sports Columnist Chris Cochrane provided commentary on the Mainland Common Centre announcement. (Read Chris's Column).

In his column, Cochrane noted that excluding a 50-metre pool in the facility plans would mean national and international swim competitions cannot be held at this facility.

"Though the announcement also included a $1-million upgrade from the province to aging Centennial Pool in Halifax, there was disappointment expressed by the Build-It-Right group that a 50-metre pool, the size needed to host national and international swim events, wasn’t included. The Build-It-Right group has done a great lobbying job to make this project happen, and their argument for one 50-metre pool does make sense..."

Not only is Cochrane's assessment correct regarding the inability to hold national and international swimming events at this pool, it also holds true for all of Nova Scotia.

While Halifax already has two 50-metre pools (Centennial Pool and Dalplex), neither were built to the specifications required to host national or international swimming events. To host such events, a pool must have an adjacent warm-up pool. Neither pool was built with this feature. In addition, there are other specifications the 40-year-old Centennial Pool does not meet such as the number of swimming lanes, lane width and depth, proper spectator seating, and adequate deck space for coaches and athletes.

In spite of all this, an August 6, 2008 press release from Barry Barnet, Minister of Health Promotion and Protection, recently boasted that the province's $1-million investment in Centennial combined with funding from HRM "...will provide residents with a high performance swimming facility for the next 15 to 20 years."

Regardless of what Barnet's press release states, retrofitting Centennial Pool's ventilation system, heating and cooling system, and changing rooms will not convert it into a high performance facility. Millions of dollars in upgrades may extend the life span of Centennial Pool, but it will not radically broaden the scope of its capabilities.

The fact is, Centennial Pool cannot be used for competitive swim meets and offers little to no opportunities for leisure and learn-to-swim programs. Investing money to maintain and upgrade aspects of this pool that have been neglected for decades will mean Centennial Pool will continue to be nothing more than a valued training facility for competitive and fitness oriented programs.

The construction of a state-of-the-art multi-dimensional recreation facility is the perfect opportunity to build a true high-performance aquatic centre that Nova Scotia so desperately needs. If the HRM and province pass up the opportunity to “build it right” at the Mainland Common, the next chance to build a pool like this in Nova Scotia will likely come in 2035, which is the next year Nova Scotia is scheduled to host the Canada Summer Games.

Susan Kirkland &
Francis MacDonald
Co-Chairs, Build it Right Citizen Action Group