crystal pool facility

Facility design and programming

Outdated paradigm: Training and performance metrics, numbers of participants showing up for a program

New paradigm: Experiential aspects related to inclusion and community building such as belonging, engagement, meaning, mastery, and challenge.

“ Public institutions continue to equate physical activity and sport as the domain of children, teens, and professional athletes.” (Active for Life/Durable by Design, 2016) 

Affordability considerations associated with the people using the recreation centre

Consider affordability of the facility and services to underserved:

  • Go beyond the LIFE program

Consider value for money: Utilize this significant investment in social infrastructure to

  • deliver on crime reduction and police savings or redirections ( the annual police budget is $26M or ¼ of City’s operating budget),
  • improve social determinants of health for Victoria’s most vulnerable population, and
  • enhance community connections and sense of wellbeing for marginalized populations (seniors, youth, newcomers).

Bundle amenities to reduce overall costs while maximizing community benefit:

  • Gymnasiums and arts centres are profit centres and can help to subsidize the costs of valuable community assets like community kitchens and childcare to fulfill critical local needs

$1.6M/year in direct losses from the current facility are absorbed by Victoria taxpayers

  • Could a partnership with a service agency (eg: YMCA/Native Friendship centre / ICA) reduce these losses and costs to taxpayers while delivering more services to a wider variety of people?
  • If so, what critical community development and social planning needs could $1.6 M in annual operation savings be re-assigned towards?

Operational Costs

  1. Do we know the cost implications of a 50% increase in water volume (i.e. 50m pool vs 25m pool) to the facility’s four largest costs:
    • Energy: heating and ventilation
    • Water
    • Pool filtration
    • Staffing costs (# of employees)
  2. Have we prepared a Triple Bottom Line cost benefit analysis or life cycle costing analysis over the life of the asset to measure the impact of different options related to siting, amenity selection, service delivery/partnership models, etc.?