Today we take the rare action of saluting a municipal council for a job done, if not necessarily well done, as the City of North Vancouver inched closer to replacing the Harry Jerome rec centre.
That centre has been forgotten by time and municipal councils alike. And while the structure languished the cost of its replacement expanded, jumping from $70 million a decade ago to around $200 million on Monday. But after much debate, the building blocks are finally all in place – all that’s left is the stacking.
For the swimmers who lobbied for a 50-metre pool, Monday’s decision is worse than a half-measure. While the new pool adds four lanes, it’s likely still too small for competitive swimmers, divers and water polo enthusiasts who were hoping Harry Jerome would simultaneously serve both the hard core and the unhurried.
When it came to excluding the slowest game on ice from the rec centre, city staff noted a decline in curling in recent years, no doubt thanks to the fact there was not one public rink available to them.
Curlers seemed unaware of that trend as they packed council chambers year after year and meeting after meeting, with some touting a business plan that showed curling could operate in the black.
Be that as it may, curling is once more in a grey area – much like North Vancouver recreation as a whole. Because while the planned centre is a perfect fit for City of North Vancouver residents, it fails to account for that great population of North Vancouverites who don’t know if they live in the city or the district, as well as the portion who don’t particularly care.
This centre is good for the city and it’s good for the people who already live here. It doesn’t anticipate tomorrow’s conundrum but this council has at least solved today’s.
