‘Shortsighted’ to sell off Centennial Pool property in downtown Halifax, says community group

HALIFAX, N.S. — A community group aims to fight city hall and save the Centennial Pool to the last drop.

In June 2022, council directed staff to begin planning for the replacement of the pool and write a staff report. That report is expected to be released publicly on Jan. 5, ahead of the Jan. 9 council meeting.

“We feel that the mayor and council have underestimated and undervalued the value of that property to the public and the citizens of Halifax.”said Trevor Brumwell, chair of the Save Centennial Pool Committee.

A new 50-metre competitive-sized pool is needed but it shouldn’t be at the expense of the 56-year-old Centennial Pool, which they argue has a lot more life left.

The group has written to the local councillor, started a website and launched a petition to save the pool. They’ll also present in front of the community planning committee next month.

Prime time for a new pool

The pool was recently closed for two years after several leaks. It cost HRM over $100,000 to fix them. In June, Coun. Waye Mason (Halifax South Downtown) said it’s only a matter of time before Centennial Pool leaks again and urged council that now is the time to start planning for a replacement.

Mason suggested then that HRM sell the prime location of the Centennial Pool property on Gottingen Street and create a new facility as part of the Needham Pool replacement. Needham is the oldest indoor recreational pool in the municipality’s inventory and has the lowest recreational usage.

“The value of the land that Centennial is on is tremendous,” Mason said at the time, adding that the sale price would be in the tens of millions.

“We should walk out of this with Needham done, a 50-metre (pool) done, and $10 or $15 million to the good, actually, especially if the feds and the province come in on the 50-metre pool.”

But the Centennial Pool, built for Canada’s 100th birthday, is a necessary resource in a perfect location, argues Brumwell, and well worth saving.

‘This pool has given us our lives’

Swimming at the pool with its high wooden ceiling is an emotional experience for many. Brumwell, who has been swimming there for decades, particularly felt the benefits after a near-fatal accident when he fell off a ladder onto a concrete floor in 2002. He said swimming there helped him gain back his mobility.

He’s certainly not alone. Marilyn Pincock would be deeply disappointed if the pool became another real estate development.

“More pools, not less, are needed and for different reasons to support our growing population, just not at the cost of disposing of the Centennial Pool for economic development,” she wrote on the committee’s website in one of the many testimonials.

“Once it’s lost as recreational space in the heart of the city, it will never be regained.”

Donna Evans wrote that she was there when the pool opened and attends aquasize classes there three times a week with her 100-year-old friend, Molly Austen.She said the pool is accessible and affordable.

“This pool has given us our lives,” she wrote.

There are several other testimonials from residents who learned to swim there, exercise there regularly and have fond memories of competing there. There are also several teams and clubs that depend on the pool and had a difficult time during its closure.

There are other options

Besides the Dalplex, it is the only 50-metre pool in the city.

Brumwell said if HRM wants a new 50-metre pool, they could build it next to Centennial and the old pool could serve as the warmup pool, which is required for Canada Games-level competition. A supportive housing project for homeless people was installed in the parking lot last year.

Brumwell said they just want council to explore other options besides demolition and that it’s shortsighted to sell the land to a developer.

HRP HQ

The property was also recently floated as an option for the site of a new headquarters of the Halifax Regional Police.

But Brumwell said one of the reasons they have to look at Centennial is because they’ve sold off all the other good public properties.

“Don’t sacrifice Centennial Pool,” he said.

“Redevelop the site HRP current headquarters are on; you don’t need to take away a facility that’s successful and operating and in the public good.”

And the argument that the pool is too old doesn’t float, Brumwell said. A pool’s longevity is not determined by age, and there are many older pools across the country, he argued. Plus, it was over-built by today’s standards and during the leaks, engineering reports didn’t uncover any red flags about the structure of the facility, he said.

SaltWire reached out to Mason for comment Thursday but didn’t receive a response.