Wading pool needs 24-7 security or fence: city staff
Building a two-metre-high fence or hiring round-the-clock security are the only ways to save a kneedeep wading pool in front of City Hall, officials said Thursday.
They presented those two options as part of a last-minute report heading to council’s executive committee for debate next week.
Unless councillors vote otherwise, a pool retrofit will drop the water level to ankle deep, just 15 cm. Officials were hoping to open the bidding process for a construction contract in February.
“I get safety. But people are also pretty smart,” said Coun. Aaron Paquette, frustrated to hear about new Alberta Health and building code rules to which the pool must conform.
The City Hall pool is a popular downtown attraction, especially with families who find it more affordable to jump on the LRT and enjoy a day in Churchill Square than pay for a recreation centre visit.
Many families from his northeast ward do that, he said.
But Paquette said he was already starting to hear from Edmonton residents encouraged by the report Thursday afternoon.
“Folks are not crazy about the fence,” he said. “But surprisingly, people are OK with having 24-hour security. It may be the solution that presents itself.”
The pool and fountains are just south of the City Hall building, which already has some security.
On-site security and attendants for the pool are estimated to cost $121,000 annually, the report said.
“I’m shocked common sense can’t prevail here,” said Coun. Scott McKeen, whose ward includes downtown.
“We can soften, plasticize, sterilize the world so that nobody gets hurt,” he said. “But in doing that, we hurt a lot of people. Those families from inner-city communities who were enjoying that pool, that is priceless.
“Nobody factors that into the equation when they’re looking at liability and that’s dumb.”
The report said the pool needs a larger $400,000 filtration system to ensure water rotates through a complete treatment cycle fast enough. It will also need changes to the drains to reduce locationspecific water flow and prevent entrapment, a new Alberta Health rule with a deadline of November 2019.
Any changes will require the pool conform to the current building code, which requires either a permanent two-metre-high fence or 24-hour security whenever the pool is filled with water.
If council keeps a deeper pool, it would also be required to keep it painted white.
That wouldn’t look as nice during the spring and fall.
The pool retrofit would happen at the same time as the paving stones around City Hall are replaced and the grass in the east garden of Churchill Square is replaced with wood decking.
The total cost of the project is $13 million.
The changes to the pool were not included in the previous city open houses about the project.
After Postmedia broke the news in December, many members of the public wrote with their concerns and several council members asked administration to look at alternatives.