Interim fix for leaky Kitsilano Pool will enable reopening next month

The renovated Kitsilano Pool in early May 2018. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Significant repairs are still needed to get the Kitsilano Pool back in shape, but forthcoming interim repairs should enable the popular oceanside swimming pool to reopen in time for its usual operating season in 2024.

During last night’s Vancouver Park Board meeting, City and Park Board staff provided an update on the investigative work done to date on the problematic pool, which is aging and has seen substantial damage from recent king tides and storm surges.

In December 2023, the Park Board first revealed that Kitsilano Pool was leaking 30,000 litres of water per hour.

Since then, nothing has changed with the leakage — staff told Park Board commissioners last night that the water loss is still 30,000 litres per hour. However, this leakage is mostly seawater, not potable drinking water, with seawater coming into the pool and then leaking out.

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Investigative work performed over the last few months — including concrete removal and pipe scoping work, such as the use of camera scoping — revealed at least two crush pipes, with some containing concrete debris, as well as failing expansion joints, and extensive cracking and delamination, which is now occurring more than previous years.

Over the coming weeks, construction crews will replace the pool’s membrane to complete the minimal repairs required to enable the pool to reopen for the Victoria Day long weekend in late May. However, this membrane work is highly weather-dependent, as it requires two weeks of overnight temperatures reaching double digits and dry weather for the sealing to cure.

The pool will then close for the season after the Labour Day long weekend in early September, at which point more investigative and repair work will begin through October. The work just after the operating season includes repairs to the pool drains, expansion joints, and pipe joints, and cleanouts in the pool basin installed and scooped.

The renovated Kitsilano Pool in early May 2018. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

“Tonight, we are sharing with you a good news story due in large part to the collaborative efforts of our departments,” said staff last night, announcing the strategy to enable a reopening of the pool this summer.

“We’re not going to get everything completed before the pool reopens. However, we’re making every effort to ensure the pool will be opened and very usable during the season, unless there’s something that comes completely out of the blue. But right now, we’re gearing up for that opening, and with the rest of the work being completed in the fall.”

According to staff, about $5 million has been spent over the past eight years on capital works for the pool, both planned and unplanned, with maintenance costs increasing annually.

In 2025, the Park Board intends to spend $2 million on more repairs, including the installation of a custom pool liner to reduce annual maintenance and a new saltwater treatment system to reduce the dependency on topping up the pool with potable drinking water.

Staff are also hoping to receive an additional $2 million to perform a feasibility study on renewing the pool over the longer term.

It was also shared last night that the Showboat will open this summer season. This follows an April 2023 fire that destroyed the Showboat’s stage at the edge of the Kitsilano Pool.

Eric Buermeyer/Shutterstock

EB Adventure Photography/Shutterstock

The current pool structure was built in 1979, replacing the original pool on the same footprint that was completed in 1931. The existing pool was last significantly renovated in 2018 at $3.3 million, which was intended to be enough to extend the facility’s lifespan and reduce the amount of potable water required to fill the pool. Before the 2018 upgrades, about 1.63 million litres of potable water per month was used to fill the pool.

It has a length of 137 metres — nearly three times longer than an Olympic-sized pool. Not only is it Vancouver’s largest outdoor pool, but it is also by far the busiest. In 2023, Kitsilano Pool saw over 120,000 swims — more than double the 59,000 recorded at the Second Beach pool at Stanley Park.

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