COVID-19 pause allows for deep clean and maintenance of recreation facilities

Not unlike many people who were sidelined at home by COVID-19, Greater Vernon Parks and Recreation used the closure of its facilities to do some cleaning and repair.

“ln mid-March due to the provincial state of emergency being declared and the order from the provincial health officer to limit gatherings, the difficult decision was made to cancel all programs and close all recreation facilities,” said Doug Ross, manager of recreation services. “During this period of closure, and in addition to regularly planned maintenance and projects that would have been carried out, Recreation Services seized the opportunity to tackle some maintenance work that would not have been possible without the extended closure.”

Projects, maintenance and control measures that have been completed to date include the installation of new boilers at the Recreation Centre, new filters in the Aquatic Centre, new doors in the Priest Valley Gymnasium, a new commercial dishwasher in the Creekside Conference Centre kitchen— the existing one was built in 1965 — glass partitions in the Rec Centre registration office and a variety of initiatives to dust, clean, paint and wax wherever possible.

All 3,800 seats in Kal Tire Place were power washed, cleaned, and sanitized.

Fire spreads to house

Vernon home "significantly damaged" by grass fire

Apr 02, 2026

Youth Health Services

Youth immunization, sexual health clinic opening in Vernon

Apr 02, 2026

Displaced For A Week

Some residents still displaced from fatal apartment fire

Apr 01, 2026

Staff were moved from regular duties to perform most of the tasks, some of which, like resurfacing the river run at the Aquatic Centre, would have been contracted out.

“In the course of the regular workload, a lot of these deep clean jobs wouldn’t have been done. This gave us the opportunity to catch up on many fronts,” Ross added.