New water feature, extensive maintenance complete as Nanaimo pool to re-open

The tugboat structure was removed during the facility’s annual shutdown in 2023, as city staff had determined the costs of repairing the aging feature were becoming too much.

Bryson said many of the pool surfaces got touch-ups as well, including new paint on the different animal statues, walls, and changerooms.

Behind the scenes, the largest aspects of the approximately 10-week project involved replacement of critical infrastructure, including NAC’s heating and air conditioning system.

Bryson said people will immediately notice a big difference.

“Just in the last few days, when we’ve gotten the systems up and running…you can feel air moving, it feels fresher. The air is coming in from the outside at a much higher rate, so we’re getting a lot more air moving through the facility, and it just gives that fresh air quality feeling to the whole place.”

The project was designed to help extend the facility’s life, which opened in June 2001.

“This facility has really good bones, it’s a good facility and really well built. It’s got a lot of good features to it,” Bryson said. “We do a lot of maintenance on it, and a lot of the maintenance happens on a day-to-day basis. We recently upgraded all of our chemical systems so that we have cleaner water that uses less chemicals and is a better experience for the swimmers.”

Changes to the guest services area and installation of new public art features were also completed since July.

Additional office space was also added to the administration area, which Bryson said fills a shortage for staff.

NAC sees an average of 1,500 people daily.

Bryson said a fresh coat of paint and some cleaning were also done in the weight room over recent weeks.

The project’s budget was $13.7 million, including nearly $4 million of senior government grants.

Bryson said while final calculations still need to be done, he said the project is on track to be within its budget.

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by NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

New water feature, extensive maintenance complete as Nanaimo pool to re-open

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