The Save Centennial Pool Committee was initially formed in July 2023 at the Annual General Meeting of the Centennial Pool Association. While the Committee initially included some members of the Board, it is now more broadly represented by volunteers from the larger community of Centennial Pool users. The Committee was initially formed in response to a Motion to City Council that asked city staff to prepare a report (expected in early 2024) that would:
- Plan for the development of a new 50 metre pool that meets Canada Games requirements for competitive swimming and diving and is consistent with the (pre-Covid) 2019 Long-Term Aquatic Strategy (1.3 Mb PDF) for direction. Note: The new, 50 metre pool would NOT be located on the peninsula.
- Potential disposal of Centennial Pool as surplus property for economic development including recommendations to include an affordable housing component. This means selling this public land to developers. Note: there is a local developer who has already expressed interest in buying this land.
- The motion also states “To recover aquatic service in the area (in other words – to satisfy the needs of teams/groups and community swimmers), the motion proposes to prioritize the Needham Community Centre replacement.” in order to “…ensure the continuity of municipal pool access…”
- The motion reasons that disposal of this property is justified because “Centennial Pool is nearing the end of its useful life.” However it provides no evidence that this is true. In fact, extensive research by this sub-committee along with input from subject matter experts suggest the exact opposite is the case.