On July 26th, NWP council candidate Karima Budhwani submitted the following letter to the Editor of the New Westminster Record questioning New West City Hall’s plan to demolish the Canada Games Pool building and the Centennial Community Centre.
July 26, 2022
Editor,
Why not repurpose the existing Canada Games Pool and the Centennial Community Centre?
The existing Canada Games Pool building envelope and the Centennial Community Centre are going to be torn down and hauled off to the dump. The floor surface area within the Canada Games Pool building is large enough to house a significant number of indoor sports and recreational activities. This could include new pickleball, basketball and volleyball courts as well as indoor gymnastics and other recreational activities that are well suited for the indoors.
Our city is rapidly growing (projected to grow to over 100,000 by 2040) and we ought to explore every opportunity we can to add capacity for our citizens who want to participate in sport and recreational activities. A perfectly good building ought not be torn down and hauled off to the dump and recycling centers unless that was the only option available. It is noteworthy that during the feasibility study phase, the Centennial Community Centre was identified as needing functional upgrades (not replacement).
It is argued that the tearing down of the Canada Games Pool and the Centennial Community Centre is necessary because the space is needed for on-site parking. However, according to Urban Systems, the company that completed the study for parking demand and other site transportation considerations for the Canada Games Pool/Centennial Recreation Redevelopment, New Westminster’s Zoning Bylaw rates are out of line with the parking provision rate and parking demand at similar facilities in Metro Vancouver.
The Asset Management Strategy Report of 2019 (Final Draft) noted the City of New Westminster was in the early stages of its Asset Management journey and would require 4 [or more years] of effort to achieve a mature level of asset management. This work is presumably underway, but would suggest that when the decision was made to tear down these facilities the information used to make decisions about our community’s assets was likely not optimal.
I urge Mayor and Council to immediately pause plans to demolish the two buildings and convert them into a few more asphalt surface parking spaces.
Karima Budhwani
Candidate for council, New West Progressives