New massive aquatic and recreational centre planned for Burnaby Lake (RENDERINGS)

Conceptual artistic rendering of Burnaby Lake Aquatic and Arena Facility. (HCMA/City of Burnaby)

The City of Burnaby has outlined its preliminary detailed concept for what the new replacement of the CG Brown Memorial Pool and Burnaby Lake Arena will look like.

This would be a replacement of the existing 1960s-built facilities using their same footprint at 3676 Kensington Avenue, within the Burnaby Lake Sports Complex, which is a relatively short 15-minute walk from SkyTrain’s Sperling-Burnaby Lake Station.

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However, the complex’s 1998-built Bill Copeland Sports Centre will be retained for integration into the new facility.

Location of Burnaby Lake Aquatic and Arena Facility. (HCMA/City of Burnaby)

Exterior of the existing CG Brown Pool and Burnaby Lake Arena. (City of Burnaby)

Interior of the existing CG Brown Pool. (City of Burnaby)

Designed by local architecture firm HCMA, the new facility is envisioned to feature a destination-sized aquatic centre with a 50-metre competition pool with eight lanes. It will have a moveable floor and bulkheads to enable competition, training, and community recreation configurations.

The competition pool will have a grandstand seating capacity for 750 spectators, including 550 in an upper seating area and 200 on-deck, with space for additional temporary spectator seating during large scale competitions.

Diving platforms from one-metre, three-metre, and five-metre heights would also be a feature of the competition pool.

Conceptual artistic rendering of Burnaby Lake Aquatic and Arena Facility. (HCMA/City of Burnaby)

Additionally, the aquatic facility would also have a zero-barrier entry 25-metre pool with five lanes, a leisure pool, a family-sized hot pool, wellness zone, sauna, steam rooms, and both universal and gender-specific change rooms.

Beyond the pools, the new facility would feature an NHL-sized ice rink with five change rooms and grandstand seating for 200 spectators.

Conceptual artistic rendering of Burnaby Lake Aquatic and Arena Facility. (HCMA/City of Burnaby)

Other components to the facility entail reception areas, a cafe, sports hall of fame display area, indoor and outdoor social areas, public art, and vehicle parking both on the surface and underground. The facility’s indoor spaces are accessed from a central entrance lobby and social space.

Green design considerations have been incorporated into the plans, including heat recovery between the ice rink’s plant and the swimming pools, and rainwater capture from the roof to top-up the water levels in the pools and for outdoor landscaping irrigation.

Layout of Burnaby Lake Aquatic and Arena Facility. (HCMA/City of Burnaby)

The scope of the project was downsized after the City of Burnaby acquired the 146,000 sq ft Fortius Sport & Health facility at 3713 Kensington Avenue, immediately across the street, for $26.6 million late last year.

The former Fortius facility, recently renamed as the Christine Sinclair Community Centre, was built with a sport medicine clinic, fitness and performance centre, human performance lab, NBA standard double gymnasium, offices, a 50-room hotel for athletes, and a cafe.

The fitness space components of the facility have since been repurposed for community recreational uses, and a use for the former hotel floors has yet to be determined.

Conceptual artistic rendering of Burnaby Lake Aquatic and Arena Facility. (HCMA/City of Burnaby)

Layout of Burnaby Lake Aquatic and Arena Facility. (HCMA/City of Burnaby)

The municipal government previously stated there would be “significant cost savings” on the new-build facility construction project through the use of the former Fortius facility’s recreational spaces and parking supply.

Prior to the acquisition, the city had set aside about $160 million in its capital budget for the new aquatic, ice rink, and recreational complex.

The city is currently conducting public consultation on the design concept. An online survey is open until June 20, 2021.

HCMA also designed Killarney Community Pool and Hillcrest Centre in Vancouver, Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre in Surrey, the new Minoru Centre for Active Living in Richmond, and South Burnaby Ice Arena and the New Westminster Aquatics and Community Centre, which are both currently under construction.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2022 for a completion sometime in 2023.

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