Kitsilano Pool is once again full of water thanks to the Vancouver Fire Rescue Service (VFRS).
Vancouver firefighters took a specialized emergency pump down to Kitsilano Beach Park on Sunday, July 28, to top off the iconic pool as plans for it to reopen on Aug. 7 remain in place. The pump allowed for the pool to be filled much faster since it added capacity and can operate at low tide.
"This piece really is an emergency system that we will use and because of that it's not used very often," VFRS Assistant Chief Ryan Hayes explained at a media event at the pool.
"We're definitely using this as a fantastic training opportunity and we hope to be able to do this again in the future."
Kits pool quickly fixed after a long wait
While prior reports on the state of the pool suggested the venue would be closed for the summer, the city's capital maintenance manager, Matthew Pel, says the issue was as much with a supply chain as anything.
"When we were looking to do the investigation and repairs last year we had ordered materials that took six months to manufacture and deliver," he explained to V.I.A.
Because of the nature of the leaks, city maintenance staff weren't able to do a complete investigation of the issues plaguing the pool until the new equipment arrived.
"Once we had those parts which came this summer we had the capabilities to look at all of the supply lines as well as identify what needs to be repaired," he says.
With the new equipment in hand, maintenance staff were able to fix the parts they already knew about as well as find unknown issues and repair them.
Pel notes that last year they hadn't expected to have to wait for the equipment. Then this year they expected the pool to be open for the summer; after, in September, the larger fixes were planned.
"When the pool was closed (the city) said 'Can you start the repairs now?' and we said 'Sure, we can start the repairs, we just have to wait for the plumbing equipment to show up,'" Pel says.
The equipment showed up recently, and staff got to work making the repairs. Pel notes that while they were working on the surface of the pool, temperatures in the city hit 30 C; inside the pool staff experienced temperatures around 37 C.
"Trades definitely earned their pay cheques on this one," he says.
Barring a natural disaster, Pel told media the repairs done this summer should last awhile.
"I would like to say this repair is going to last quite awhile, but if we have king tide events, if we have storm surges, other natural disasters, who knows," he told media. "The repairs we've done now will hopefully get us through the next three, five, maybe even 10 years."
City officials 'thrilled' for swimming pool to re-open
Parks Commissioner Brennan Bastyovanszky told the media he was happy the opening date for the pool was coming up.
"I'm thrilled to have this back up and running," he said.
He noted that there was sometimes a lack of communication between the city and parks board about Kits Pool, despite the board advocating for repairs for years.
"I am really thrilled the city has been able to get off its hands and help out and do what's required to help out the park board deliver on its service," he added. "All the facilities, all the maintenance, the renewal and the capital planning is the city; we're just the tenants."
At the July 8 park board meeting, commissioners voted to send a letter to the city requesting a five-year "emergency restoration plan" with $347 million to cover maintenance issues "as promised in the 2022 ABC election campaign."
"The park board has approved to have funding allocated towards (maintenance) and each time the city has been the one to either turn down the funding request or have the deferred maintenance," he said.
Bastyovanszky noted that he's glad "the city has put their hand in their pocket" and the "world-class pool" would be open again soon.
"We've waited for the pool to collapse before they jumped into action," he said. "You know what, better late than never, I'm going to get to swim, I'm going to be down here on the seventh in my Speedos and I'll be doing laps."
