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Letter: Close, but no cigar on swimming pool design

Editor: Thank you to those on council who spoke for and voted for heat and a cover for the proposed  Aldergrove pool.

The pool and the water park are surely unique.

That is what our mayor wanted for Aldergrove: A unique experience to use a recreation centre with insufficient parking as a way of revitalizing a commercial district.

This pool with a cover is a start but the whole of council needs to work together to give Aldergrove a larger pool.

What are the Township’s plans if they find upon opening that the pool is way too small to meet the needs of the Aldergrove community? Will they then renovate immediately at a higher cost to enlarge the pool or will they wait 40 or more years to build a larger pool in another setting?

If the pool will truly be warm with heated cement, overhead heating and wind screen as Coun. Bob Long states, swimming will be great for those people that will comfortably fit into the pool.

When numbers are given for the pool capacity by officials, they are saying how many people could fit into the pool.

The “capacity number” does not leave room for swimming. It only leaves room for standing and life guard watching, similar to what happens on a hot day in our present pool.

I’d really like to know why the Township of Langley will not make the year-round pool larger by eliminating the summer-only wave pool. A larger pool will attract more people for 12 months of the year, bringing more people to the downtown core to help with revitalization and giving more recreational opportunities to Aldergrove. A wave pool would be expensive to build and operate, eliminating those costs could pay for a larger pool.

We need at least a 35 metre, 8-lane pool to give room for a deep end and a variety of activities.

Consider the needs of the Aldergrove community.

You are close to giving Aldergrove the year-round pool that meets the needs of the community, but no cigar yet.

Dianne Kask,

Aldergrove