St. Marys Aquatic Center to undergo major renovations

The St. Marys Aquatic Center is set to be closed for at least six months for extensive renovations that include the installation of a new HVAC unit and exhaust systems.

Article content

The work, which is slated to start at the beginning of November, should greatly improve the facility’s indoor air quality, town officials said.

Doug LaPointe, the town’s recreation operations manager, said the pool, which opened in 2008, has never had sufficient HVAC capacity to get rid of the extra humidity and moisture associated with indoor pools.

“Over the last year or two, we’ve noticed some things that have deteriorated. We had some pieces of the wall come apart. We had an issue with some hangers which were securing pipes to the ceiling which failed,” LaPointe said.

Staff has yet to determine whether this lack of capacity was an oversight or if a decision was made at that time that it was not required, LaPointe noted. The pool also lacks the proper exhaust system that most modern pools have, he added.

Article content

“Through the evaluation with the consulting engineers we’ve hired, they’ve done some pretty in-depth calculations on what HVAC equipment we have that exists versus what we need to properly manage the indoor air quality, and there is a gap there for sure,” LaPointe said.

Some needed work has already been completed, LaPointe noted, including the replacement of the salt water system in 2018.

LaPointe said St. Marys should have been able to use the equipment at the pool for another 20 years before it needed to be replaced.

“So basically, that was the decision the council had to make. . . . We have to fix things now, or things are going to continue to deteriorate to the point where we’re going to have some tougher conversations about the pool,” he said.

Article content

A report presented by LaPointe to council last week pegged the total cost of the project at $1,897,270, with a $74,000 variance, before council approved the Elgin Contracting and Restoration bid. While there is much work to be done, it is not a complex job, LaPointe said while explaining the lengthy timeline is due to some necessary demolition and duct work.

“It’s mostly any aesthetic items that have deteriorated somewhere,” he said.

While the six-month period is an approximation, no final timelines have actually been determined, town officials said in their press release.

The rest of the Pyramid Recreation Center will also remain open during the renovations.

“We understand that (some) people prefer to swim and do aqua-fit. Obviously, there’s no real replacement for that. . . but the town does offer a lot of alternative programs that run at the same time the pool would be running for aqua-fit and lane swim,” LaPointe said.

[email protected]

Article content