Dear Editor:
Re: City Deprioritizes Harry Jerome, April 3 front-page story.
On behalf of the North Shore Aquatics Society I would like to express our dismay that the City of North Vancouver voted 4-3 to build a ferris wheel, an outdoor skating rink (etc.) instead of rebuilding Harry Jerome Community Centre, including the pool.
They believe that the pool can be “replaced in parts over time” instead of rebuilt. The pool needs more than a facelift after 50 years; at a minimum, it needs seismic upgrading to meet the current standards. With the continuing expansion of the city population the pool size needs to be expanded sooner, rather than later to meet the current and future needs of the community.
Almost everyone uses a pool at some time in their life for recreation, fitness, physiotherapy or learning to swim. According to the North Vancouver Recreation and Culture Commission’s PERC report, up to 75 per cent of households will use a pool each year.
It is estimated that 1.2 million visits will be made to North Vancouver pools by 2020, and we are fast approaching that time. How will that be possible when Harry Jerome will be taken out of service every time it needs a repair?
I replaced the engine in my car when it was in need of repairs, only to find that the other parts of the car were failing and needed more costly repairs. Council should not plan to replace aging parts when a facility has already exceeded its lifetime; engineers design buildings and infrastructure for a 50-year time horizon — Harry Jerome’s time has come. The city does not need to make costly repairs that remove the public’s ability to use the pool each time it must be shutdown.
The NSAS has managed to secure most of the financial backing needed for a multi-purpose aquatic facility at Harry Jerome and continues to work with the federal and provincial governments to fund the remainder of the request by council. That is now in jeopardy because of this switch in priorities.
We hope city council will support the vision of the NSAS for a multi-use pool that will be able to meet the present needs and will be a legacy for the future in the same way the original Harry Jerome pool did when it opened in 1964.
Linda Sullivan, president, North Shore Aquatics Society
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