The City marked the start of construction on the new downtown pool at a
July 29 groundbreaking ceremony. Site preparation and excavation began earlier in the month. HDR Architecture and Chandos Construction are leading the design and construction process.
Construction has started on the new pool!
Watch as the new downtown pool takes shape in the lot previously occupied by the Days Inn Hotel.
CONTACT US
Service Centre
1100 Patricia Boulevard
Prince George, BC V2L 3V9
Phone: 311 (or 250-561-7600 outside city limits)
Email:
311@princegeorge.ca
Need to report a problem? Submit a service request online.
About the New Pool
Prince George’s new pool will be an attractive and accessible facility, which will help welcome visitors to the downtown while enhancing the City’s aquatics offerings for residents of all ages and abilities.
View from 7th Avenue and Quebec St.
View from Entry Plaza
View from 6th Avenue and Quebec St.
View from 7th Avenue and Dominion St.
Pool rendered at its proposed location on the old Days Inn lot.
The pool is designed with an eye for safety and accessibility. Each of the pools will have shallow entries and “pool pods” to help people with mobility devices enter, while the main leisure pool will feature a gradual entry from zero depth.
The facility will also have improved lines of sight for lifeguards to improve safety for patrons. Meanwhile, the change rooms are designed to open onto the shallowest ends of the pools to decrease the likelihood of falls into deep water.
The main features will include:
- A six lane, 25-metre lap pool.
- A four lane, 25-metre teaching pool with warmer water and shallow depth.
- A leisure pool with a lazy river, beach entry, and play features.
- A large waterslide with a run-off lane.
- Dedicated male and female change rooms, as well as a large universal change room.
- Three barrier-free shower rooms with ceiling lifts.
- A sauna and stream room.
- Two classrooms.
- A comfortable viewing area.
One of the more striking visual aspects of the new pool is its “tilted box” design, which allows for the increased height needed to house the waterslide at the southeast end of the building. The building then slopes towards the main entrance at 7th Avenue and Quebec Street. The entry plaza will collect water run-off into a rain garden on 7th Avenue.
The City expects the new pool to open to the public by the summer of 2022.
Tour the New Pool
Take a look at the new pool's interiors on your Android or iPhone.
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Use the camera app to view the QR codes below.
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Tap on the link that shows up.
The previews are virtual reality-friendly. Go on a VR tour with Google Cardboard glasses or a headset (Oculus Quest, PlayStation VR, HTC Vive, Valve Index, etc.)
The interiors can also be viewed in a browser by clicking or tapping the "View in Browser" button.
Floor/Site Plans and Features
Change Rooms
In addition to the men's and women's facilities, the pool features a spacious universal/family change room.
Pool Layout
The new facility will have a teaching pool, a lap pool, a leisure pool with beach entry, a whirlpool, and a slide.
Full Floorplans
The Four Seasons replacement pool is an improved, fully-accessible design that caters to all ages, abilities, and needs.
Site Plan
The pool will be built on the lot previously occupied by the Days Inn Hotel. The main entrance will be at 7th Avenue and Quebec Street.
Poolpods
The replacement pool will feature a number of accessibility improvements, including Poolpods that will let visitors of all ages with mobility challenges enter pools safely.
Improved Play Features
In addition to the main water slide, the new pool will also have a double mini toddler slide and spray area.
Questions and Answers
Why isn’t the City building a smaller, less expensive pool like the one recently built in Vanderhoof?
Prince George requires a larger facility to accommodate a far larger market. The City's aquatic services provide for more than 74,000 people with thousands more in the surrounding region. Meanwhile, Vanderhoof's pool serves a community of just over 4,000. The pool in Vanderhoof, while an excellent size for their community, is about four times smaller than Prince George's new pool. The Vanderhoof pool also does not include many of the features Prince George's pool will include, such as a water slide, a teaching pool, and a lazy river.
How will the new pool affect downtown parking?
The new pool will include 28 new on-site parking spaces on the 6th Avenue side of the property. Surface parking will be available next to (and inside) the new City parkade, which is currently under construction across from City Hall, as well as in the lot next to the Four Seasons Leisure Pool.
Some parallel parking will also be available along Quebec Street.
Why won’t the new pool feature diving boards?
A dive tank will not fit the existing lot size of the pool or the current budget for the facility. Also, in order to have diving at the facility, the tank would have to be designed to be deep enough. However, the downtown area has a very high water table, which precludes the pool from being placed too far below the ground. So in order for the new pool to include diving boards like the current Four Seasons Pool, the facility would have to be raised up well above ground level, which would increase the height of the entire facility - as with the Four Seasons. This would make the pool less accessible for those with mobility challenges and increase the cost of the pool as a whole.
Why won’t the new facility include a gym or fitness area?
Due to the fact that the City already provides fitness facilities at the Aquatic Centre, and that there are already a number of privately operated fitness facilities in the downtown area, the decision was made not include fitness equipment at the new facility. This allows the new facility to include more pool space and other aquatic features such as the lazy river.
Additional Resources