A new fire hall isn't the only piece of city infrastructure that belongs on Massey Drive.
So does the new pool.
City residents will vote in a referendum Oct. 28 on whether to allow the City of Prince George to borrow the money to build a $35-million pool to replace Four Seasons Pool and a $15-million fire hall to replace Fire Hall No. 1, currently across the street from Four Seasons.
The plan is to build the new fire hall on the south corner of Massey Drive and Carney Street to improve response times within the Bowl.
The city is suggesting the new pool remain downtown, however, across the street from the current Four Seasons Pool, where a parking lot and the Days Inn currently sit.
Both Four Seasons and the fire hall are in dire need of replacement (have a look at the videos on the referendum page of the city's webpage for a behind-the-scenes look and see for yourself) but the new pool also needs to leave downtown.
It should be built as an addition to the YMCA of Northern B.C. facility on Massey Drive.
This is hardly a new idea. It's been talked about at various times for more than 20 years. Prince George is home to one of the few urban YMCA facilities in Canada that does not have a swimming pool attached to it.
There are obvious reasons why cities across the country have collaborated with the YMCA to build and manage public swimming facilities.
First, the YMCA brings a proven track record of operating swimming pools as part of their overall mandate of developing healthy communities and families.
Second, the YMCA also has a tradition of making their facilities available to lower-income individuals and families through reduced or waived fees or in exchange for volunteer hours. Furthermore, the YMCA fosters volunteerism to operate and manage its facilities to allow it to further funnel financial resources into its programs and services.
Third, there is the land available around the Prince George YMCA facility to house both a swimming pool and the extra parking spaces needed.
Finally, the Northern B.C. YMCA is centrally located for easy accessibility for city residents.
There are some details that would have to be worked out, of course, starting with would the city retain ownership of the pool and the land it sits on.
Also, would the YMCA be able to raise some money through a capital campaign to lower the building costs to taxpayers?
Would the city also have to contribute annually to operations?
If so, how much?
There are also the city workers, currently earning good union wages at Four Seasons Pool.
To put it bluntly, the YMCA can't afford those wages to work the front desk, clean the change rooms, maintain the facility and so on, particularly since it leaves as many of those duties as possible to volunteers.
While the city lifeguards could easily transition to the YMCA-operated pool, the city would have to work with CUPE to transition current Four Seasons staff into other city jobs and offer buyouts to those willing to take them.
Finally, there is the matter of losing not one but two major pieces of city infrastructure from the downtown core.
Instead of a problem, that should be seen as an opportunity, either to foster private development of those two properties or to build a large downtown park that would cover the current fire hall, Four Seasons and the property across the street.
Yes, two roads would have to be diverted but the result would be a huge, pedestrian-friendly public space right outside City Hall that could house Downtown Summerfest, Remembrance Day ceremonies, the downtown winter carnival and other events. The city already has plans in its archives for a downtown park in that area so it could just be a matter of dusting those off.
While there are hurdles to moving the pool out of downtown, the benefits far outweigh the shortcomings for the city to partner with the YMCA to operate a replacement for Four Seasons.
Over to you, mayor and council.
-- Editor-in-chief Neil Godbout
