- A 52-year Legacy
- Chronology of Upgrades, Reparations, Renovations and Refurbishments
- Major Historical Features
- The Architecture of the Centennial Pool Building
A 52-Year Coaching Legacy
TO: Save Centennial Pool Committee
FROM: Nigel Kemp, Head Coach, Halifax Chronos Masters Swimming Club
RE: Motion June 28, 2022 – Proposed Disposal of Centennial Pool and Process for construction of new 50m pool
Date: 4th December, 2023
It has been my privilege to have had the opportunity to coach the Halifax Trojan Aquatic Club 1971-1981, the Dalhousie University Varsity Swimming Teams 1971- 1998 and the Halifax Chronos Masters Swimming Club 2000-2023. Varsity swimmers utilized Centennial Pool for both training and competition for the period 1971 -1979 whilst Physical Education students, in the B.P.E. program, also used the pool, under my instruction as a Dalhousie faculty member, during this period.
Over the past fifty-two years I have witnessed numerous changes, upgrades and renovations to the Centennial Pool, and its equipment, which have represented investments that have added to the effective functioning of this recreational amenity as well as to its longer-term viability. (Please refer to the appended document listing in approximate chronological order the major changes effected during the past 52 years). I am not aware of the actual costs, with some exceptions, of these upgrades, and reparations, but records confirm a request was made on June 2022, of HRM staff, to provide Council with a costing of Pool investments over the past twenty year period.
The legacy of this City of Halifax Centennial Project and that of the hosting of the inaugural Canada Games in 1969 has been, and continues to be significant. In 2019, for example, a 65 year old member of the Halifax Chronos Masters Swimming Club, Linda Hunt, won the 100m Backstroke, in the 65-69 years age group at the World Masters Swimming Championships in South Korea. Her training over the past two decades has taken place exclusively at Centennial Pool except on occasions when the pool was closed for renovation and upgrading. Earlier in the same year the Halifax Chronos MSC finished fifth of 105 teams at the Canadian Masters Swimming National Championships at the Claude-Robillard Pool in Montreal. In 2013 a Masters swimmer from Ottawa, Lynn Marshall, established two world records when competing in the Annual Halifax Chronos Long Course Invitational. In the 1970’s the accomplishments of Halifax Trojan Aquatic Club swimmer Nancy Garapick, Canada’s Female Athlete of the Year 1975, World and Olympic record holder and double Olympic Bronze medalist, precipitated several upgrades at Centennial Pool including the installation of Electronic Timing and a double-sided bulkhead.
Upgrades including the completion of a three-phase capital rehabilitation completed in 2014 indicated the extension of the useful life of Centennial Pool through 2034 whilst the HRM Long Term Aquatic Strategy identifies it to be in the top category of the FCI (Facility Condition Index). This hardly describes a public facility fit for disposal. I believe due consideration be given to the continuation of the function of Centennial Pool as well as the construction of a new 50m Aquatic facility.
Nigel Kemp
December, 2023 ↑
Chronology of Upgrades, Reparations, Renovations and Refurbishments
| c.1974 | Glass Doors and windows removed and bricked over |
| c.1974 | Courtyard walls demolished |
| 1975 | Original, wooden one-sided bulkhead replaced with Aluminum Floatable Bulkhead. Proving unstable to move, Canada Aluminum Co. re-designed bulkhead with wheels for mobility, and “T” ends for stability |
| 1975 | Original painted pool deck and pool tiled |
| 1976 | Electronic Timing System installed |
| 1980 | Ventilation upgrade installed to highest intersection of wall and ceiling |
| c.1980 | Centennial Pool building reroofed |
| c.1990 | 40-yard slide from 10-metre tower to shallow end installed |
| c.1995 | Solar panels installed on south side of building |
| c.2000 | $3MM ventilation upgrade completed |
| 2005 | Pool Diving Bubbler System installed |
| 2014 | New Starting Blocks installed at deep end |
| 2013-2014 | New changing rooms and foyer refurbished ($1MM+) (seven-month closure) Subsequent $15,000 fee for electrical engineer confirmed pool illumination level negligently low. |
| 2016 | Third bulkhead installed |
| 2020-2022 | Centennial Pool closed for 2 years and 7 months for COVID and installation of new, $300,000 filtration system, plus $250,000 pool leakage reparation |
Nigel Kemp
December, 2023 ↑
Major Historical Features
In June 1966 Halifax City received a $185,000 1967 Centennial grant from the Federal Government. It was initially to be spent on an aquarium which was estimated to cost $600,000 but a tender that September amounted to $984,000. Because of the high cost, the project was defeated by Council and by December 1966 a pool, for which planning had started in 1964, was adopted as the Centennial project. It was also needed for the 1969 Canada Summer Games which were to be held in Halifax.
On June 7, 1967 Halifax Mayor Allan O’Brien turned the first sod for the $700,000 pool, pointing out that it was a joint project of the federal, provincial and municipal governments. Rabbi Joseph Deitcher blessed the site. At that time the plan was to have a walled, 6000 square foot outdoor patio on the west side with direct access to the pool. The 50 metre pool was designed by Halifax architect Peter Mettam of Mettam, Wright Associates and built by Stevens and Fiske Construction Company. The dedication and official opening ceremony occurred almost a year later on May 25, 1968. Mayor O’Brien was joined on this occasion by the Hon. Allan J MacEachen representing the Government of Canada, Hon. R.A. Donahue representing the Government of Nova Scotia and E. Finlay MacDonald representing the upcoming Canada Games for which the new pool would host the water sports program. Alderman H.W. Butler ‘accepted’ the pool in his capacity as chairman of the Halifax Recreation and Playgrounds Commission. Spectators were treated to a display of diving, medley races and synchronized swimming. One of the pool’s attractive original features, still enjoyed, is its ceiling and north wall of stained and laminated pine beams. Users also benefit from daylight through the windows set high in the east and west walls.
At the time of its construction Centennial Pool was the second largest pool in Canada and the first major public indoor pool in Halifax. The first pool manager, George Wiskin, was joined by a staff of 12 full-time employees as well as 15 part-time lifeguards and instructors. The chief instructor and lifeguard was Rita Cahill. The pool’s importance to the province as the centre for diving was aptly demonstrated during the 1969 Canada Games, when Prime Minister Pierre Eliott Trudeau did a somersault dive off the diving tower.
Since then Centennial Pool has been the major training and competition pool in Nova Scotia. In 1999 the pool became a non-profit organization operated through a Centennial Pool Association with funding from HRM to supplement user fees. For its users it is open every day from 6am to 9:30pm which allows for every type of water exercise and team sport at assigned times of day.
Centennial Pool is appreciated as a well-kept facility. It was tiled in the 1970s and for a decade or more solar panels on the outside south wall have enhanced the pool’s efficiency. About ten years ago it was closed for several months while the user facilities were being updated. The vitally important ventilation system has been upgraded twice since the original installation. The grant of significant funds from the federal government for this purpose underscores the pool’s national status. For its users of several generations the location is convenient, and the cost of admission remains reasonable.
(references: Mail Star, 8 June 1967, p.8; Chronicle-Herald, 24 May 1968. p.11; Recreation & Playgrounds Commission for the City of Halifax Official Dedication program, Centennial Swimming Pool, May 25, 1968, 2 P.M., Nova Scotia Archives, mfm 788; the accepted tender for the pool was actually $725,183, The Centennial Project in the Built History of Halifax blog posted 30 July 2021; recollections of Nigel Kemp)
Compiled by Judith Fingard
November 2023 ↑
The Architecture of the Centennial Pool Building
The extraordinary geometric shape of the Centennial Pool is its most distinguishing exterior feature, which along with its soaring interior pool space makes it one of several exemplary late modern buildings in Halifax. It was designed in the mid-60’s by Halifax architect, Peter Mettam and built in 1967 by Stevens and Fisk Construction Company. Its structural system, enclosing an Olympic-size pool and diving platforms, was at the time, and remains, daring and progressive.
Unfortunately, surrounded by parked cars, poor landscaping, and few architectural upgrades, it seems formidable with little to engage our eye or give us an indication of its purpose. Recent improvements to mechanical systems, while being beneficial to the operation and efficiency of the building, have done further disservice to the appearance of the building. It is little wonder that many these days scratch their head and wonder if the site might be put to better use.
This point of view, however, is extremely limited by overlooking the tremendous public benefit and resource currently provided by the building, especially given its Central Halifax location and public ownership. It also overlooks the interesting possibilities of expansion and improvements to the building. Its 6-lane Olympic-sized swimming pool could be expanded within the existing building bays to the currently-mandated 10 lanes for Olympic-level swimming competitions, which, combined with its current 3 and 6 meter diving boards and the only 10 meter diving platform in the Province, would allow national and international competitions. New washrooms, public spaces, splash pools, saunas, exterior features, and proper landscaping could be added.
Perhaps most importantly, the building could be opened to the exterior with large areas of its now 55 year-old sloping north wall replaced with high-efficiency glass such as at the new Central Library, allowing significant natural light into the buildings as well as interior views from adjacent streets, while still maintaining the needed level of pool privacy.
For a fraction of the cost of building a new facility elsewhere, the building could become, with proper treatment, a public architectural gem on a significant corner at the entrance to downtown along with the currently under development Mi’kmaw Friendship Centre and the Halifax Citadel. Also overlooked in dismissals of the building and calls for its removal is the loss of significant recent financial investments, substantial embodied carbon, and the architectural and historical significance of a major civic building. This would not be in the direction of sustainability.
David Garrett, Architect
December, 2023 ↑