Public consultation begins on new replacement Kitsilano Outdoor Pool
The study area encompasses not only the footprint of the existing outdoor pool, but also the adjacent open grassy spaces, tennis court, and surface parking lot at Kitsilano Beach Park. This allows for the exploration of potential options to relocate the pool further inland as a strategy to mitigate the impacts of future sea level rise, high tides, and storms. If the new pool is built in another area of the park, there will be no overall loss of park space, including no reduction of the sandy beach area.
The project will also aim to provide a new Showboat performance stage, concessions, and a public washroom building.
Study area for the replacement project for Kitsilano Outdoor Pool. (Vancouver Park Board)
Kitsilano Pool refilled on July 28, 2024, following interim repairs. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
This iconic pool is exponentially larger than a conventional Olympic-sized pool. Measuring 137.5 metres long, the existing pool is still the longest public outdoor swimming pool in North America. About 60 per cent of the pool area is currently used for lap swimming and leisure activities.
A seaside outdoor pool that uses saltwater has existed in the area since 1931, which was filled with water at high tide. Its sandy bottom was replaced with a concrete base in the 1960s, and the pool that currently exists was rebuilt on top of the original with a second concrete pool basin and the installation of mechanical equipment to pump, heat, and treat the seawater.
Following the January 2022 storm and king tide that significantly damaged the seaside pool, the municipal government spent $3.5 million assessing the structure’s damage and performing repairs between 2022 and 2024, enabling its late-season reopening in early August 2024.
It saw another late reopening for the 2025 season, opening this past weekend on June 21 — due to the need for some maintenance and repair work. Historically, the pool opened for the season on the May long weekend. The previously completed major repairs in 2024 are intended to enable the continued operator of the pool for a few more years, until a replacement facility is ready. Prior to the storm damage, the pool last underwent a major renovation in 2018.
An online survey is open until July 14, 2025. Gathered input will be used to finalize the feasibility study in Fall 2025 for the consideration of both Park Board commissioners and City Council.
In December 2024, following a bidding process, the municipal government selected architectural firm HCMA to perform the feasibility study work, with a contract value worth $784,000.
HCMA’s previous work includes Rosemary Brown Recreation Centre in Burnaby, the new aquatic centre at Minoru Centre for Active Living in Richmond, the new aquatic and community centre replacing Canada Games Pool in New Westminster, West Vancouver Aquatic Centre, Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre in North Vancouver, and Clayton Community Centre and Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre in Surrey, as well as the aquatic centre at Hillcrest Centre, Killarney Pool, and River District Community Centre in Vancouver.
In Summer 2026, the project will be considered for inclusion in the City’s 2027-2030 capital plan of building new community amenities and infrastructure. In 2024, Mayor Ken Sim and the Park Board identified a new replacement outdoor pool as a priority project for the upcoming capital plan.
A change coming much sooner to Kitsilano Beach Park is the closure of The Boathouse restaurant in the Park Board-owned building on September 21, 2025. The lease has ended, and a new operator is expected to take over following the Park Board’s recent bidding process. The restaurant building is not within the feasibility study’s area.
Repair work on Kitsilano Outdoor Pool in Summer 2024. (Claire Fenton/Daily Hive)
The renovated Kitsilano Outdoor Pool in May 2018. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
While no official cost estimate has been established at this early stage of planning, discussions during Park Board public meetings have suggested the new Kitsilano Outdoor Pool could carry a ballpark price tag well in excess of $100 million. There is also speculation that a significant portion of the project’s funding could be tied to a plebiscite question on the October 2026 civic election ballot, asking Vancouver voters to approve major borrowing for the project.
As part of the October 2022 civic election ballot, Vancouver voters approved the City’s request to borrow $103 million toward the construction of a new replacement Vancouver Aquatic Centre on the other side of English Bay, which is also aging and in very poor condition. The ballot question was approved with 101,715 votes in favour and 47,163 opposed.
Since then, Vancouver Aquatic Centre redevelopment’s estimated cost has increased from $140 million to $175 million.
In response to rising costs, the Park Board controversially opted to proceed with a 25-metre main pool design — rather than a modern 50-metre Olympic-sized tank — in order to reduce financial pressures and ensure construction begins before the end of 2026, allowing the new Vancouver Aquatic Centre to remain eligible for the voter-approved borrowing. Vancouver City Council approved the additional funding request for the project last week.
If the Kitsilano Outdoor Pool takes the same path of voter-approved borrowing, this could peg a construction start for 2030 at the very latest.
Metro Vancouver’s newest outdoor pool is the City of Coquitlam’s Mundy Park Pool, which opened earlier this spring at a cost of $32 million. This is a substantially smaller facility than the Kitsilano Outdoor Pool.
Earlier this month, following a years-long temporary closure, the Park Board also reopened the Jericho Pier after extensive repairs. The pier had been severely damaged by the same January 2022 storm that also impacted the Kitsilano Outdoor Pool.
The new Mundy Park Pool. (City of Coquitlam)
The new Mundy Park Pool. (City of Coquitlam)
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