Crystal Pool Replacement Project - The Peter Hemingway Comparison
Imagine a pool replacement project. Now make it a project about a pool built in 1971 with significant modernist architecture and Olympic length swimming lanes. Now assume that the project goal is to update the pool and make it work for our current population and society, oh and it will be done for less than $50 million… So no, I am not talking about Crystal Pool, despite much of what I said describing our current project almost to a T, instead this is the Peter Hemingway Pool in Coronation Park near downtown Edmonton.
In my last article I talked about how we got to this place with our Crystal Pool Replacement Project. If you haven’t read that article, you can read it here. As I said in that article, the last time we even considered refurbishment over replacement was in late 2016 and at that time the estimate we had put it about 20% cheaper than completely rebuilding the pool. Moving that estimate differential forward to today and our current replacement estimate sitting at $209 million, a refurbishment might be expected to cost about $167 million. Yet somehow in Alberta, a project also being designed by HCMA, is coming in at $46.1 million. On top of that, right next door to the refurbished pool is a whole new state of the art recreation centre with an indoor running and cycling track, a multipurpose field space, seating for hundreds of spectators and other recreation rooms. This space is already coming in over budget at $153.4 million and two years late (completing in 2026). Which means Edmonton’s already over budget project that includes two buildings both impressive architecturally, will still be less money than the cheapest option currently proposed by the City of Victoria for replacing Crystal Pool. The two buildings are about $10 million cheaper (with their revised budget) than the northern Central Park option and when you see what they are getting, for what is granted a huge amount of money, makes our new pool seem completely underwhelming.
The first question that I had and you may have as well is why they opted for refurbishment over replacement of the pool. To understand that, you have know a little more about Peter Hemingway Pool. As I said, the pool was completed in 1971. It was built as a Canadian Centennial project. For the design, Peter Hemingway, a local architect, was chosen and before you think that he must have had some ego, to design a pool named after himself, the pool was originally known as Coronation Pool. Edmonton made a good choice in the architect they chose, because the pool is stunning, and considered a masterpiece. So unlike in Victoria (though I do like Di Castri’s design) there was no option to replace the pool anymore than we would consider replacing the legislature if it became too small. The work that is planned is extensive and along the lines of what would need to be done here at a basic level. The work includes: boiler and filtration system replacement, replacement of the decking, addition of elevator, replacement of the outer layer of the entire building including all of the windows, replacement of the roofing assembly and much more. As I said though, because it’s a pool and a designated heritage site, adding services to the building would have been challenging. There was no option really to increase the footprint of the building as we need to in Victoria, so to compare the two projects you really need to include the ancillary building that is under construction right next door that will house all of the other recreation activities aside from swimming.
As the pool is being refurbished, literally a stone’s throw away is a second construction site for the new Coronation Park Sports and Recreation Centre. The is a true behemoth of a rec building with a square footage of 182 986 square feet. This building, as I said at the beginning, is going to house a huge diversity of activities including a full indoor velodrome (which sounds crazy to me), but I suppose at this time of year you need to find alternative spaces to ride your bike in Edmonton. For comparison, the proposed new replacement for Crystal Pool is only 81 224 square feet and that number above does not include the pool space in Edmonton. I encourage you to check out the City of Edmonton project page and watch the latest construction update on this facility as it is really impressive. Of course, it should be noted that this is also an HCMA project; and it is currently estimated to be two years late in being completed; and is estimated to cost about $40 million more than planned or 36% more. If the Crystal Pool replacement project were to go over budget to the same degree (assuming northern location), that would be an additional $75 million dollars and a total cost of $284 million. Not that it will, but just noting what is happening at this other project.
Going back to the pool portion, I recognise that every project is different and that this project was started a number of years ago, so they would likely have gotten more favorable contracts for the build. And furthermore, I do know that building in Edmonton and Victoria is going to mean a very different building. We have different building codes, we need to protect against earthquakes and they need to protect against cold. Still, doesn’t add up to me. And I think part of it is that we never gave refurbishment a chance. Before any real costing and estimates could be done, it was decided to replace the building. Edmonton didn’t have that choice luckily, as replacement wasn’t an option for them, they were forced to look at it and the complete new pool is costing $46.1 million. People can say off the cuff, that refurbishment would be more expensive at Crystal Pool, but there has been no information made available to Victorians that definitively lays that out. The only documents we have say that it would be cheaper to refurbish. In a time of economic uncertainty and cutting back in other areas, Victorians deserve to get this right.
Have you been to the Peter Hemingway Pool? If I am ever in Edmonton, it is going to be top of my list of places to visit. I would ove to hear your comments about the Edmonton project and ours.