City council will soon be asked to make a decision on the fate of the Four Seasons Leisure Pool.
City manager Kathleen Soltis is recommending that council approve replacing the Four Seasons Leisure Pool in another location downtown. The aging structure has been a cause for concern for the past couple of city councils who have been faced with some tough decisions as to what to do with the pool … fix, scrap, or replace?
A report, prepared by consultant Dialog and Counsilman-Hunsaker in September gave the city three options to consider, which ranged from simply replacing the Four Seasons Pool, on the low side at $32.9 million, to replacing Four Seasons Pool and upgrading the Aquatic Centre, on the high side at $62.3 million, or leave the Four Seasons Leisure Pool as is and add on to the Aquatic Centre.
City administration is recommending replacing it in the downtown area, and as such has been included within the funded portion of the proposed 2017-2021 Capital Plan to be considered by council during the budget meeting on February 1.
“Administration’s intent is to review siting options in the downtown that will allow the FSLP to remain open during proposed new construction to ensure aquatic needs continue to be met within the community,” Soltis says in a report going to council tonight.
Maintaining the location of the Four Seasons Leisure Pool within the downtown “ensures continued alignment with the City of Prince George Official Community Plan and Smart Growth on the Ground Downtown Concept Plan,” Soltis says in her report. “The need to address the Four Season’s Leisure Pool aging infrastructure was heard from City of Prince George residents again through Council’s Talktober 2016 event.”
