Ahead of crucial Nov 3 deadline to prevent Vancouver Aquatic Centre demolition
The coming week will see the inauguration of newly elected officials in Vancouver. At the Park Board, a number of crucial decisions are imminent for the incoming commissioners. We’re publishing this notice of an emergency meeting being organized at 12 noon on Sunday, Nov 1, by the Protecting Our Vancouver Aquatic Centre Society.
Nov 1, 2026 (Sun) 12 to 2 p.m.
2006 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver (at Maple)
Registration required for public attendance: https://50m.ca/nov1-tickets
All seven commissioners-elect have been invited. The Society is counting on them being there in person.
Related, see our post “Emergency Meeting Nov 1 on Imminent Threats to Stanley Park and Nelson Park” (set for 3 pm, also on Nov 1). See also our detailed post on the Nov 2 inaugural meeting of the Vancouver Park Board.
There is a critical need for a Board decision before the Nov 3 expiry of a court injunction blocking demolition of the Vancouver Aquatic Centre, despite better alternatives. The BC Supreme Court blocked the demolition of the existing VAC in the West End until November 3, 2026. This was to allow the incoming Park Board a chance to decide whether to continue with the demolition of the facility that includes a 50 metre pool. The incoming board could set a new path to deliver the promised 50 metre pool, instead of 25 metres as currently planned. A $3.5 million demolition contract was awarded to Heatherbrae in July. The Protecting Our Vancouver Aquatic Centre Society spearheaded the efforts to save the existing pool, and calls for a pool of the same length at this location. Incoming commissioners have the opportunity to make a decision on this highly controversial project based on serious evidence previously withheld from elected officials (most notably, the engineers’ reports which never stated any imminent danger of the existing facility).
The Society has put the retrofit option back on the table, asserting that demolition would threaten a much more sustainable, quicker, and more cost-effective option.
Hence the urgency and importance of a rapid decision to postpone or cancel demolition prior to November 3.
Below is an excerpt from an e-mail from Protecting Our Vancouver Aquatic Centre Society to supporters.
Dear community members,
EMERGENCY COMMUNITY MEETING — THIS SUNDAY. The new Park Board commissioners have been invited to meet the community in person, the day before their first vote. Two public pools go dark on Monday.
On November 2, the new Park Board is sworn in, and Britannia Pool closes until at least September 2027. On November 3, the Court of Appeal’s order expires, and demolition of the Vancouver Aquatic Centre can resume.
Vancouver already doesn’t have enough water. Hillcrest, the only other indoor 50-metre pool in the city, was over capacity before either closure. Losing the VAC and Britannia at the same time leaves swim clubs, lessons, seniors’ programs and public swim fighting over even fewer lanes, for years.
Sunday, November 1 · 12:00 – 2:00 p.m.
2006 W 10th Ave, Vancouver (10th Ave at Maple)
All seven commissioners-elect have been invited, and the Society counts on them being there in person.
Tom Digby, Spencer Van Vloten, T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss, Tamiko Suzuki, Breanne Smart, Jamie Han, Sacia Burton
Registration required for public attendance: https://50m.ca/nov1-tickets
Why This Meeting, Why Now
The Court of Appeal didn’t decide the VAC’s future. It left that decision to the new board. Sunday (November 1) is the one chance, before that board’s first meeting, for the people it serves to speak with its members face to face. We have invited all seven commissioners-elect to come and listen, and we expect to see them there.
Three Things to Do Today
Get your ticket and bring someone. A neighbour, a swim parent, a coach, anyone who uses a public pool. This is your chance to tell the new commissioners in person what these pools mean to you. Register at the link provided
Send the letter again. Today, tomorrow, and every day until November 3. Click “Send the Letter,” type your name, and a pre-addressed email to all seven commissioners-elect opens for you. It takes under a minute. Add a sentence of your own so it lands in their inbox.
Share the event link in your group chats, your swim club, your strata and your neighbourhood pages.
Send the Letter
The letter asks the new board to do one thing at its first meeting: pause the demolition, review the full record, and decide the future of the VAC in public. That record includes the City’s own engineering study finding renovation “feasible and practical.”
If you can, keep giving. The appeal continues, and the City still intends to pursue the Society for costs on the original petition. 100% goes to legal costs.
Pause the demolition. Open the record. Let the new board decide.
With gratitude,
Protecting Our Vancouver Aquatic Centre Society
BC Society S0083228
Excerpt from Eventbrite page – https://50m.ca/nov1-tickets
Overview
The VAC and Britannia Pool both go dark November 2. Meet the day before the new Park Board sits and tell them what’s at stake.
The new Park Board is sworn in Monday, November 2. Demolition of the Vancouver Aquatic Centre can resume Tuesday, November 3. Britannia Pool closes on the same day the new board takes office.
Vancouver already doesn’t have enough water. Hillcrest, the city’s only other indoor 50-metre pool, was running at 113% of capacity before either closure. Swim clubs, lessons, seniors’ programs and public swim are being squeezed into fewer lanes every season. Losing the VAC and Britannia at the same time narrows that even further, for years.
The Court of Appeal stopped the VAC demolition until November 3 so the new board could decide its future. This meeting is the last chance for the community to speak before that board’s first vote.
What we’re asking the new Park Board
Pass an urgent motion at the November 2 inaugural meeting to pause demolition at the Vancouver Aquatic Centre until the full engineering, design and procurement record is reviewed.
Publish a plan for where swimmers, clubs and programs go while two public pools are closed at once.
What to expect
A short briefing on where the VAC stands after the Court of Appeal’s order
The impact of the Britannia closure on the east side
Open floor: swimmers, parents, coaches and neighbours speak
What happens on November 2, and how to keep up the pressure
All seven commissioners-elect have been invited. Come and fill the room. Commissioners count heads.
Can’t make it? Email the new commissioners today: saveourvacpool.ca/letter
Hosted by Protecting Our Vancouver Aquatic Centre Society (POVACS) · saveourvacpool.ca