Concept image for the ALC aquatics facility (image courtesy of the City of Vernon)

By Liam Verster

ALC Opening Plan

Vernon to be without swimming pools during transition to ALC

Oct 29, 2025 | 12:17 PM

Residents and visitors will be without a swimming pool for a period of time when the recreation services transitions to Vernon’s new Active Living Centre.

At the regular meeting Monday, Oct. 27, Vernon City Council heard that the new facility (ALC) will have much more areas for swimming than at the existing Vernon Recreation Centre (VRC), which will require more lifeguards to be hired to ensure swimmers’ safety and that the facility meets its safety regulation requirement.

Nav Sidhu, engagement manager for Cascadia Partners, the consultants aiding with the handover plan for the ALC, told council the entire facility will need approximately 66 full time equivalent (FTE) staff, up from the existing 36 at the VRC. Approximately 19 of those new FTEs would be lifeguards. It was also noted that many of these positions, including the lifeguards, will be part time, so though the ALC will need 30 new FTEs that could translate to 60 or 75 new staff members.

When the ALC is fully built in the fall of 2026, Sindhu said staff will be transferred over from the VRC, starting with the aquatics personnel.

However, those staff members will need to undergo a multi-week training program to familiarize themselves with the new facility and the safety procedures.

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During that period, the pools won’t be open to the public at either the ALC or the VRC. That closure was expected to take place September through to November of 2026.

“At this time we’re projecting a closure of two months,” Sidhu told council.

“I know the aquatics team is chatting with [user groups like] the swim club around how we would accomodate their sport as we train up and bring over [staff], but up front it would be about two months.”

It was noted the closure period would only be a few weeks longer than the usual annual closure for maintenance of the existing pool.

Once the staff are ready, Sidhu said the pools could open with a pilot testing phase starting with smaller groups to fully understand how to operate the aquatics facility safely.

The aquatics and fitness centres in the ALC will then open for drop-in services, before moving into the full opening with programs on offer in January of 2027.

Sidhu noted the operations would be monitored through all those stages, and the information collected through that period could be used to improve modify recreation service delivery to ensure they meet the needs of the community in an efficient manner.

Council accepted this information as part of the ALC Launch and Operating Plan presentation Monday, which also included allocating money from reserves to offset projected revenue losses during the handover phases.