New Petition at www.build-it-right.ca

This is a totally ludicrous proposal.....adding a 25 metre cool down pool to Dalplex! The Dalplex isn't even a community pool, it's a university owned pool, therefore the community has no say in how it's run. Plus, the parking is attrocious, especially during swim meets.....not to mention the cost to park there. There is also the problem of pool time for the swim teams in Nova Scotia......it's very difficult, even with the Dalplex, to get enough pool time for swim practices. All it takes is to build the new Mainland Common pool right the first time.

Somone should do some checking I guess. The Build It Right proposal for a 50m pool would not allow hosting of international or national long track competitions. You are required to have at minimum what is proposed PLUS a 50 metre pool. It would thus be cheaper to add a 25 metre warm up pool to Dalplex than to add a 50 metre to Mainland Common. More importantly studies clearly show most athletes associate with a university facility so it would be a better location. The proposal shown by Build It Right would also get rid of the raisable floor in the pool which will allow access for the physically challenged and replace it with a pool few could or would use.

The comparison between the mooseheads and aquatics training centre is off the mark. Why are track athletes exceling despite not having any true indoor facilities or even one national calibre outdoor facility?

I think more facilities help but it is still not the main factor. We would never host an Olympic trials for Canada for swimming and may host a long course event once every ten years. Forget about true international events, they require two tanks.

Lets get a 50 meter pool built over the next decade so we have two tanks at the Mainland Commons site.

HRM's pool consultant said the same thing about Nova Scotia's swim coaching on CBC radio.

Even though we have two 50m pools in Nova Scotia neither are suitable for hosting national or international caliber meets. Local swimmers and coaches have not been exposed to elite level swimming over the past 25 years.

Look at the affect the Halifax Mooseheads had on the development of local hockey talent in Nova Scotia. Since the Mooseheads came local players are being drafted into major junior and the NHL at a significantly higher rate. A national caliber aquatics centre could do the same for aquatic sports.

I support the development of a 50 meter pool but it is incorrect to directly link the lack of Olympians over the past 25 years to this project.

With 2 50 meter pools active over this 25 year time period, I do not see the pool (or hosting) as being the primary barrier to our lack of performance. Coaching is a far more important factor.

Our athletes need all the support and encouragement we can give them to compete at an International level and the city would benefit from the International competitons that would be held here as a result of building the pool to the NEW Olympic standard (Deeper). Yes, build it right, Laura Legere Dartmouth

HRM would have citizens believe a new 50m pool is not needed. The fact is, the two 50m pools that are in Halifax now are not built to national or international standards. Typically large facilities like this are only built in conjunction with a major games/sporting event. So, the next opportunity for HRM to build it right if not now would be 2035 which is the next time Nova Scotia hosts the Canada Summer Games. Did you see any Nova Scotian swimmers competing for Canada at the Olympics? No. The last Nova Scotian to represent Canada at the Olympics was Marie Moore in 1984.

Is this organization going to foot the bill for this? As a tax payer the last thing I want is to pay for a pool that we clearly do not NEED at this moment. They have stated that there will be room to grow in the current plan. Why can't this be enough for now? Where is this committee really coming from? Is this more of a political ploy?

The consultant's report you refer to is posted on this website at http://www.build-it-right.ca/history-asbell.

It's the most recent in a long line of consultant reports done on the mainland common. However, it's the first that is not fully supportive of a 50m pool at the site. It appears HRM finally hired a consultant to tell them what they wanted to hear.

The report suggests Halifax could not support three 50m pools. I personally agree with this statement. What I don't agree with is pumping millions of dollars to keep Centennial Pool open. Centennial Pool is one-dimensional. It cannot be used for hosting national or international swimming events. It also is not ideal for learn to swim programs.

I think the best thing would have been to shut down the 40 year old Centennial and build a new 50m pool at the Mainland Common. Doing this would mean Halifax would still only have two 50m pools, only this way one of them would be appropriately built for multi-use.

I'm wondering if HRM winning the bid to host the 2011 Canada Games had any influence in changing the $8-million facility to a $40-million facility.

Also the broader vision of the Mainland Common seems to all of a sudden become very narrow in focus... 50m pool or will kick and scream until we get one!! I think there was a HRM consultants report that basically stated there wasn't a need for a 50m pool.

-tibirs