New renderings of the City of Delta's $130-million new aquatic centre

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Newly released artistic renderings show a checkerboard-like panel pattern for much of the building’s exterior facade, with different materials, such as multi-coloured bricks, used for the lower section at a pedestrian’s eye level.

The main entrance into the facility will be from a new public plaza near the centre of the park. A grand staircase from this plaza will also lead to a large landscaped outdoor public space on a lower rooftop of the new building.

The interior design will boast the use of some mass timber materials.

Overall, the new facility will have a relatively simple and conventional design for a community and recreational centre. The project’s architectural design firms are Dialog and Carscadden Stokes McDonald Architects.

As previously established during the preliminary schematic design’s approval, the new 90,0000 sq. ft., two-storey facility will feature a 10-lane, 25-metre lap swimming pool, a four-lane teaching pool, and a leisure pool with a lazy river and water slide, as well as a hot pool, cold plunge pools, sauna, fitness gym, gymnasium, multi-purpose rooms, and space for Boys-Girls Club South Coast.

The combined surface area of the swimming pools will be 14,000 sq. ft. — twice the size of the pools in the existing facility near the south end of the park. Additionally, the 6,000 sq. ft. fitness gym will be double the size of the current one.

Upon completion, the existing 1977-built facility will be demolished, and the footprint will be used to expand the surface vehicle parking lot’s capacity from 140 stalls to up to 250 to 275 stalls.

To accommodate the new facility and expanded parking lot, Winskill Park will be completely reconfigured, with the end result being four new baseball fields — a net gain of one baseball field compared to what currently exists.

In preparation for the reconfiguration, 150 trees primarily located at the western end of the park were recently removed to make space for the footprint of two new baseball fields. According to the City, 400 trees were retained in the impacted areas and 31 trees were relocated. The intention now is to plant over 400 new trees throughout the park.

The project’s estimated cost is about $130 million, including $120 million for the new facility and the demolition of the existing facility, and $10 million for Winskill Park’s reconfiguration. The municipal government is pursuing this project due to the age and failing systems of the existing facility, and the evolving needs of Delta’s rapidly growing population.

Input used from this second round of public consultation will be used to finalize the facility’s design. An online survey is open through March 24, 2025.

If all goes as planned, following the approval of the detailed design, construction could begin in mid-2025 for a completion and opening in late 2027.

“Resident feedback has played a key role in shaping the preliminary design of the new aquatic and fitness centre and we look forward to another opportunity to check in with the public for the final design,” said Delta mayor George V. Harvie in a statement.

“As we enter this final phase of the design and move closer to breaking ground on this exciting amenity, I encourage everyone to get involved by sharing their thoughts so that we can build a facility that truly reflects the needs of our community.”

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