White Rock must mull public pool costs<\/p>\n
Published 6:00 pm Monday, August 24, 2026<\/p>\n
Yet another item for White Rock council\u2019s wish list \u2013 a public swimming pool for the city \u2013 will have to wait for a new council to be elected before being given consideration as a strategic priority.<\/p>\n
That was the unanimous decision of council members at the July 27 meeting, after they received a pool needs assessment and feasibility study compiled by consultants Cornerstone Planning Group and presented by recreation and culture director John Woolgar.<\/p>\n
Inevitably the costs of building, maintaining and staffing such a facility will limit the city to a choice that meets only basic requirements, Cornerstone\u2019s Quentin Talbot-Kelly noted.<\/p>\n
According to preliminary estimates, the city would be looking at spending anything from almost $10 million to some $24.2 million depending on the pool option chosen.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a big decision to make because there\u2019s a lot of dollars there for a small city like White Rock,\u201d Mayor Megan Knight observed.<\/p>\n
\u201cFunding is the issue \u2013 we all know this,\u201d said Coun. Christopher Trevelyan.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if we get $10 to 15 millon from another level of government, we\u2019d still be on the hook for $1 to 6 million more dollars.\u201d <\/p>\n
Woolgar noted that there is increased urgency for a White Rock pool as a result of the City of Surrey prioritizing Surrey residents over White Rock residents who use Surrey swimming pool facilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn January 1, 2025, the City of Surrey implemented a priority registration for Surrey residents in its recreation program,\u201d Woolgar said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result, White Rock residents must wait up to three weeks, after Surrey residents, to register for (any recreational) programs. For high-demand programs, such as swimming, this delay significantly restricts access for White Rock\u2019s 1,800 children to essential water safety and life skills (training) \u2013 an especially important concern for a seaside community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Woolgar said staff were seeking council\u2019s support to defer consideration of a public swimming pool as a strategic priority to the next council term, given the demonstrated service gap, community demand and long-term importance of aquatic recreation and water safety.<\/p>\n
In his report to council Talbot-Kelly indicated that there is clearly a demand for aquatic facilities in White Rock, where most residents must travel to the nearest South Surrey options; the Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre, the South Surrey Indoor Pool and the Surrey Sport and Leisure Complex (residents also frequently participate in structured and drop-in programs at the YMCA\u2019s Tong Louie facility and at the Crescent Beach Swimming Club, he noted).<\/p>\n
Demographic projections indicate an aging population in which, in 20 years time, the majority of White Rock residents (some 76 per cent) will be adults over the age of 40, he said, while the current percentage of children (four per cent) will remain stable, and youth and younger adults will experience either no growth, or declining numbers.<\/p>\n
Also to be factored in are evolving family structure \u2013 in which two-worker households drive peak demand in post-work hours, while drop-in and flexible use opportunities best fit increasingly complex schedules.<\/p>\n
Given the number of more specialized facilities available outside of White Rock, the study recommends providing a facility that meets basic aquatic service \u2013 around 104,000 swims per year.<\/p>\n
But the bottom line \u2013 as always \u2013 is going to be how much the city is willing to spend.<\/p>\n
The report developed three options \u2013 an outdoor, covered facility offering a leisure pool, lap pool and hot pool; an outdoor \u2018standard\u2019 facility, providing a leisure pool and a lap pool; and an outdoor basic facility providing only a lap pool.<\/p>\n
The first option would come with a preliminary estimate price-tag of $24.2 million, including an anticipated $17.9 million in construction costs, while the second option would be around $20.9 million, including $15.5 million in construction costs.<\/p>\n
The third option, while significantly less expensive (an estimated $9.7 million, including construction costs of $7.2 million) would only be usable for short operating season, with a constrained capacity that would \u201cnot meet projected annual swims per capita targets\u201d and would \u201climit the ability to respond to broader community needs\u201d Talbot-Kelly said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile it is the most cost-effective option, its overall service impact is correspondingly low,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"White Rock must mull public pool costs Published 6:00 pm Monday, August 24, 2026 Yet another item for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":870490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[49,48,87674],"class_list":["post-870489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}