Westsyde Pool.
Image Credit: City of Kamloops
April 29, 2015 - 8:29 AM
CITY SAYS CLOSURE NECESSARY FOR REPAIRS
KAMLOOPS - While some Westsyde residents are crying foul over the impending Westsyde Pool closure a city manager says it is simply time to make the necessary repairs and upgrade the facility.
Westsyde resident Amanda Cosgrove started a petition asking the city not only to re-think the Westsyde Pool closure but consider also building a bigger facility with more amenities to accommodate the growing neighbourhood.
She is just one of many area residents taking to social media in the hopes of having the city reconsider the year-long closure due to a failing roof. Some area residents say they believe the pool is a symptom of the city ignoring Westsyde and its facilities.
Some say allowing the pool to fall into disrepair as an excuse to close. Long-time Westsyde resident Pete Stack believes being closed for a year might be an excuse to close the pool for good.
“I knew the supervisor of Westsyde Pool back then in the mid 80s,” Stack says. “Apparently the city every year tried to close the pool forever due to (it) not making money, etcetera.”
Stack recalls seeing buckets along on the north west wall of the pool deck collecting brown water dripping from the ceiling, indicating to him trouble with the roof.
Westsyde resident Darleen Polegi also believes the city was being negligent.
“The City of Kamloops owes an explanation to all taxpayers and most certainly users of the Westsyde Pool as to how a public facility was allowed to reach such a significant level of deterioration with no intervention,” she says.
Stack fears that current city expenditures relating to the performing arts centre, bridge resurfacing, and repairs also to the Canada Games pool, could be the end of the Westsyde Pool.
City facility manager Jeff Putnam says this is completely untrue and believes this type of speculation is because of a lack of information.
“As far as I’m concerned its full steam ahead to get it repaired,” Putnam says of the Westsyde Pool.
Putnam explains the issues with the roof are two-fold. First water came through the roof membrane, which is common when snow melts and temperatures change. This issue was handled immediately, Putnam says.
The major, costly repair is the structural damage to the building’s supporting beams. This is due in part to the moist environment of the pool and the fact when the pool was built in 1975 dehumidifying systems were not what they are today.
“Today we have much better technology,” Putnam says, adding the pool is maintained regularly seven days a week.
He is emphatic the pool has not been ignored. Putnam says the building envelope, including roof rafters and the heating and ventilation system, is inspected annually and any issues are tended to daily.
Polegi wants an upgrade on the existing Westsyde facility based on what the community feels is essential and wants the city to make it a priority before the performing arts centre.
Putnam says he welcomes any and all feedback and, in fact, looks forward to meeting residents in the near future. In conjunction with the Westsyde community association the city is planning an open house for residents to air concerns and express their desires for the Westsyde community.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Dana Reynolds at dreynolds@infonews.ca or call 250-819-6089. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015