In December, Council directed administration to consider two possible locations for the multi-use aquatic facility: Michener North lands and Rotary Recreation Park. In addition to an in-depth evaluation of both sites, several factors were considered in selecting Michener North lands:

• The City is purchasing the Michener North lands from the Province, with funds approved in the 2021 Capital Budget.
• Solidifying this location allows the multi-use aquatic facility to be included in the visioning for Michener North. This visioning will help develop ideas around what this site could for the community and will begin in early 2022.
• The multi-use aquatic facility serves as an anchor to this future major park node.

Scoping, design and cost were also determined in December as part of Phase 1 of this project. At this time, the facility includes a 53M x 25M pool with 10 lanes, ranging in depth from 2.5M to 3.8M with diving platforms at the deep end and two 1.5M movable bulkheads. This competition pool is compliant with FINA standards and Swim Alberta recommendations. The facility also includes a 25M x 20.6M pool with eight lanes, ranging in depth from 1.2M to 2.2M to accommodate swim competitions, warm up for aquatic sport competitions, and floor based depths serving local community programming needs. Two hot tubs, steam and sauna amenities, universal change rooms, spectator seating for up to 750 people, storage, sport group dryland training area, and staff supports are accounted for in the design.

The facility construction costs are estimated at $51,600,000, and by selecting Michener, The City is in a better position to quantify the variable site development costs as plans are solidified to place the item in the capital plan.

We now know that Michener North lands will be used for municipal purposes and become a major park node for community use,” said Sarah Tittemore, Community Services General Manager. “Major park nodes need indoor facilities to serve the needs of park users, and deciding on the multi-use aquatic facility at this site allows the visioning for the Michener North lands to include this anchor and the community. We look forward to working with the community to enrich the vision through planned future consultation.”