The University of British Columbia has announced the detailed plans for its new $39.9-million Aquatic Centre for students, community and high-performance sport.

Image: UBC Public Affairs

The new centre will house an Olympic-sized competition pool, 25 metre lap pool, a warm-water family pool with a lazy river, and a large hot tub. The facility will offer a mix of student and community programs, high performance training and competition, student clubs, lessons and drop-in use.

“It’s very rare for an aquatic centre to accommodate so many different users and we are incredibly excited to make this world-class facility available to the community,” says Kavie Toor, associate director of Facilities and Business Development for Athletics and Recreation.

Image: UBC Public Affairs

The new centre will replace UBC’s current indoor and outdoor pools, which are well used but require major upgrades. UBC Athletics and Recreation concluded that building a new Aquatic Centre would be more financially sustainable than doing extensive renovations and repairs. The new venue is expected to attract a 40 per cent increase from existing usage.

UBC professors and staff will also use the new Aquatic Centre for research into the environmental impact of public swimming pools and to evaluate human health risk and management strategies for public pool chemicals.

Image: UBC Public Affairs

UBC’s new Aquatic Centre will be built next to War Memorial Gym on MacInnes Field. Site preparations are expected to start in the coming weeks with construction beginning in late July 2014. The facility is expected to open in September 2016.

The existing 1976-built Aquatic Centre will remain open until the new facility is complete. It will then be demolished and replaced by a new MacInnes Field.

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Image: UBC Public Affairs

Highlights of the new Aquatic Centre

• Olympic-sized 10-lane competition pool with a moveable bulkhead. The bulkhead can split the pool into two smaller pools at any point along its length for community programming.
• An 8-lane 25 meter lap pool for community recreational use
• A 350-square-metre shallow family pool. This warm-water pool will be a family fun zone with lots of toys and a safe place to learn to swim.
• A family-friendly zone including a lazy river, fountains, geysers, and a configuration for water basketball and volleyball.
• Hot tub for up to 35 people that can also be used for rehabilitation
• Large skylights to let in lots of natural light
• Seating for 500 and space to add more seating for special events
• Close to 1,500 square metres of deck space
• Large change room facilities with family and individual change spaces
• Infrastructure for moveable floor systems in the 25m tank, steam room, sauna and hydro therapy room for future development
• Small coffee and food service kiosk with a small retail space
• Space for athlete support services support, such as massage therapy

Source/Images: UBC Public Affairs