Calgary city councillors will be asked to reconsider a motion to expedite the closure of the Inglewood pool, and instead fund much-needed repairs and operations for two years.

Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp and Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot will introduce an urgent Notice of Motion (NoM) at the Nov. 7 Executive Committee meeting, asking for a reprieve and to immediately spend $350,000 to cover urgent repair costs, and return the $400,000 annually to operate the pool back to the budget.

A reconsideration vote, should the item be approved at Executive Committee, would require 10 votes to pass.

On Oct. 9, Calgary city council voted narrowly in favour of a plan to advance the closure of the Inglewood Aquatic Facility. At that time, the decision would free up $600,000 in planned upgrades and $800,000 in operating costs to go back to the 2023-2026 budget.

Admin did say during that meeting that as much as $3 million in upgrades was needed to address shortcomings in the building.

Coun. Sharp said that if city admin can find enough money to close the gap on a proposed property tax increase, they could find cash to keep the pool open until 2026.  She said she spoke with city admin on Wednesday morning and they felt $350,000 was a reasonable expenditure to address infrastructure issues at the pool.

“When we got the presentation on budget, and the CAO got up there and said, ‘you know, we’ve already found point-nine per cent in savings,’ It triggered us to say, ‘well, they already found point-nine per cent in savings, we should be able to find some money to keep this pool open until it can stop operating,” she said.

Coun. Sharp said that both she and Coun. Chabot were approached by Inglewood residents in favour of keeping the pool open during their respective budget town halls held in October.

The proposed plan would ensure the pool stays open through 2026. It’s expected that work on an expanded MNP Community and Sport Centre will be complete by 2027.

“This is about preserving access to community recreation while we explore every option,” said Coun.  Chabot.

“We believe the Inglewood Pool can remain a vital community asset with minor but necessary upgrades. Community pools are essential to the well-being and connectedness of our neighborhoods.”

‘We are stoked about it’: Pool supporter

Marina Ortman, who is part of a group that wants to extend the life of the Inglewood pool, said they’re excited to hear there’s still a chance the pool has a life beyond December 2024. Ortman was one of a group of people who went to the budget town halls held by Couns. Sharp and Chabot to appeal directly to them for help.

She also spoke at the Oct. 8 meeting of council, with a group that pushed council to allow for public input that day. Ortman said being able to have a voice on the matter helped push the matter forward.

“I think pretty much because we were there, we moved the needle,” she said.

To hear the councillors were bringing the reconsideration of the Inglewood pool closure forward, even for a technical review, was welcome news.

“We are stoked about it,” she told LWC.

“There are so many people who are involved in this, in the school, so many seniors, people who have pretty much been marginalized by the city. Nobody – nobody hears them out. Just to see that, to break that news to them, the smile on their face and hope, it’s just, well, it’s really rewarding. I mean, it means our work did not go nowhere.”

Ortman said that they have been talking with the Matco Group, which owns the lands upon which the Inglewood pool sits, along with the Cross family, who donated the land back to the City in the mid-1900s. She said there’s potential to assign a name to it, have a potential third-party operator and add things like a hot tub, a daycare in unused office space and other amenities.

She knows that the City of Calgary says that the pool isn’t heavily used. Ortman points out the hours are odd and varied times, making it difficult for people to come in around work and activity schedules. Three days a week, Inglewood pool is open from 11 or 11:30 a.m. until 7:30 or 8 p.m. On Friday, it’s open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It’s open from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on the weekends. Ortman said in comparison, the Renfrew pool is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. three days a week, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays and the same hours as Inglewood on the weekends.

“You’ve been shutting down, cutting hours, and then using old numbers, and nobody comes to the pool. That’s not true. That is inaccurate. You go to the pool, and it’s always busy,” Ortman said.

Ortman said that even the pool lifeguards, who will be attending a rally on Nov. 8 from 3 to 5 p.m. at Calgary city hall, say it could be utilized 100 per cent of the time. The group will also hold an information session on Sunday for the community.

Playing politics with the Inglewood pool, says Ward 9 Councillor

Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra, whose Ward 9 covers the Inglewood pool, said this is a decision that’s been studied for the past 10 years. He said there was no way to responsibly extend the life of the facility, so council and admin made other arrangements.

“What we’ve discovered now is that there are severe construction requirements that will cost into the millions of dollars, and we’ll close the pool for a long, long time, months and months and months and months,” he said.

“I mean, it is remarkable to me that members of council who style themselves as fiscal hawks are willing to be so fiscally irresponsible.”

Carra said he felt they reached a point through consultation with the community where they had to close the pool given the cost to keep it open and the low usage rate. Roughly 35,000 visits are logged at the Inglewood pool compared with the second least used pool that reaches more than 100,000 visits.

He said these are rational decisions that have been made over time, and that his fellow councillors are turning it into a political issue.

“This is a wedge issue where people… we’re entering silly season. People want to get re-elected. They want to spin stories to motivate voters, and saving a pool is a very compelling story to sell to voters,” Carra said.

“It’s smart politics. It’s definitely not smart governance.”

Sharp said that swimming pools and recreation services are a basic service for the City of Calgary.

“I would say those that are saying this is a political move, my rebuttal with that is, what are you doing for your communities?” Sharp said.

The Inglewood pool is scheduled to close on Dec. 22, 2024.