The Beban Pool on Bowen Rd. will be closed for an extra two weeks after a last minute fault was discovered while filling the pool with water. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

SPLISH SPLASH

Beban Pool re-opening delayed due to faulty expansion joint

Sep 29, 2021 | 12:29 PM

NANAIMO — Those awaiting a re-opening of Beban Pool will have to wait a little bit longer.

The City of Nanaimo has pushed back the highly anticipated re-opening of the facility another two weeks, to Monday, Oct. 18.

Lynn Wark, city director of parks, recreation and culture, told NanaimoNewsNOW the pool itself experienced an issue due to being empty for so long.

“We had inspected an expansion joint in the pool and it appeared fine, but when water was added to the pool the weight caused it to separate a bit.”

The pool was closed during the initial lockdowns in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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City of Nanaimo staff elected not to re-open the facility alongside the Nanaimo Aquatic Centre in September 2020 and said Beban Pool would remain closed indefinitely as they looked at demand and cost benefits.

As of April 2021, no plan was in place to re-open the pool and no budget was set aside for its operation.

Wark said they have used the extensive downtime to conduct upgrades and repairs including tiling of the change rooms, a fresh coat of paint and a new art installation.

“We had consultants come in and do an accessibility audit, taking a look at how accessible the facility is and what we could do to potentially improve access there.”

Demand for swimming facilities was evident through the spring and summer, with high traffic at the Nanaimo Aquatic Centre and many programs registered to capacity.

City lifeguards were also on shift at Westwood Lake and the Kin pool at Bowen Park.

“We’re anticipating it will be the same at Beban, we’ll have swim lessons starting there on Oct. 24 and they’re quite full already,” Wark said.

In June, Wark told a City finance and audit committee meeting if opening both pools is successful and attendance levels reach that of 2019 before the shutdown, nearly $100,000 in revenue would be gained.

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