Aquatic centre gets maintenance makeover during Covid closure

Jul 28, 2020 | 3:19 PM

Since the Vernon Recreation Centre closed in mid-March due to the Covid pandemic, staff have been using the down time to conduct major maintenance projects at the aquatic centre.

“Staff have been working to deep clean, maintain and upgrade equipment in various areas of the facility. Some of the work includes painting walls, power washing walls, floors and change rooms, and replacing items such as the dishwasher in the commercial kitchen,” said a city news release.

“The closure of our recreation facilities was unexpected but necessary for the safety of our community,” said Gary Lefebvre, manager, aquatics. “We have used this time to prepare our spaces so they are clean, safe, and ready to welcome our community members back when the time is right.”

The Recreation Centre, including the auditorium, aquatic centre, weight room and Dogwood Gym, is currently scheduled to reopen in October 2020.

“Prior to the pandemic taking place, we had planned to complete a number of major maintenance projects during our annual shutdown period in September,” said Lefebvre. “Over the last few months, we’ve looked carefully at these projects, their timelines, and the availability of the materials and contractors needed to complete the work. We have expedited projects where possible, but some of the materials and contractors are not available until our regularly scheduled fall shutdown period.”

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To avoid opening the facility for a few weeks and then closing again, the Recreation Centre will remain closed until the major maintenance work is complete.

The maintenance projects taking place include:

The painting of the leisure pool
The replacement of the filtration systems for the leisure pool, lap pool and hot tub
Redesign and safety upgrades to the lap pool main drain
The re-engineering and replacement of the boiler system

“These projects are going to make a significant difference to the water quality of our pools and increase the energy efficiency of our facility,” said Lefebvre. “Currently, we use high-rate sand filters. At the start of August, we are upgrading our system to regenerative media filters, which remove up to 99% of most bacteria from the water.”

While our indoor pool will be closed for several more weeks, the Lavington and Lakeview outdoor pools are open and accessible to the public.

by Venron Matters Staff

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