School District 46 and the Sunshine Coast Regional District are exploring the possibility of building a swimming pool at Chatelech Secondary School in Sechelt.
Regional district board chair Ed Steeves said this placement makes sense.
"They already have a gym there and a weight room, which are some of the aspects we were looking at for the pool that was originally destined for Block 7," said Steeves.
He said there might not be enough room to build the aquatic facility on Block 7, where the justice services building, Seaside Centre, library and town hall now sit.
The regional district board and staff have been looking at other sites that may be more suitable. Chatelech came up in discussions with Superintendent of Schools Stewart Hercus.
"I was up at the site with Doug Holmes, CEO of the regional district. We were talking about the lack of space at Block 7, and we thought there might be some possibilities for locating the pool at Chat," said Hercus.
The school board agreed in principle to the concept of a pool at Chat Oct. 12. But when the regional board debated the proposal Oct. 14, they did not agree.
Halfmoon Bay director John Marian said he is totally opposed to looking at a new pool location.
"We went through this whole decision-making process we had a group of citizens sit here for a year," said Marian. "This makes us look totally indecisive."
Marian said the Block 7 site is on a bus route and is easy to access by foot for elementary school students and senior citizens."Seniors will not want to walk up that bloody hill [to Chatelech]," he said.
Other directors liked the Chatelech location. West Howe Sound director Bernie Mulligan said the recent Chatelech renovation has equipped the school with a new gym, weight room, theatre and kitchen. With the addition of the pool, he said, it could become a complete community centre for Sechelt.
Roberts Creek director Adrian Belshaw said he would like to consider a third possibility: locating the pool on Sechelt Indian Band lands, perhaps next to the new Extra Foods store.
Former Sechelt mayor Joyce Kolibas stormed out of the regional board meeting in anger at the prospect of more delays to the pool referendum.
"I've been on a pool committee for 10 years," she told the board. "I'll die before you build it."
Hercus said the school board and the regional district are in preliminary discussions about the proposed project.
"We've got to look closely at the site and make sure a pool would fit. There is a lot of rock at Chat which may be a problem," said Hercus.
Hercus is enthusiastic about the idea and said it could be a good partnership between the school district and the regional district.
"We have no money to put into that partnership, of course, but we can provide the land and some of the facilities they were planning to build, like the gym and the weight room which is really state of the art," said Hercus.
Steeves said he is also excited about the possibility.
"I think this is a great avenue to explore," he said.
The regional district plans to continue its debate on the pool location at the next community services meeting Oct. 21.
