It's been a frantic few months since the unexpected announcement that Vancouver Mayor Sim made to abolish the Vancouver Park Board with very little notice to the residents of Vancouver. Although Council passed his motion and it has been sent to the provincial government, no change to the Vancouver Charter is expected any time soon. That means that our elected Parks Commissioners are still in office and responsible for Parks & Recreation issues - like the rebuild of Mount Pleasant Pool!

We submitted the first batch of signatures for this petition in January 2023, but we are continuing to gather signatures in 2024 because the situation with outdoor pools is even more precarious. The weather experts are predicting that we might have drought conditions (again) in the summer, and if we get more extensive hot and dry conditions, the need for outdoor pools to seek relief from the summer heat grows ever more critical. Meanwhile our few remaining outdoor pools on or near the waterfront are increasingly subject to severe storms in the winter. Fortunately the Park Board has advised us that Kitsilano Pool will likely be repaired by the May long weekend - that's the good news. The bad news is that the long-term future of Kits Pool is still to be determined and both Kits Pool and the indoor pool at the Aquatic Centre will be very expensive - in the hundred millions - to rebuild. The outdoor pool planned adjacent to the new Marpole Community Centre has been delayed. This leaves only the 3 outdoor pools at Kits, Second Beach, and New Brighton to service Vancouver's entire population.

It will cost much less and be quicker to build a basic outdoor pool in Mount Pleasant than the beach front destination pools, and we are hoping to persuade Park Board to find mid-term funds for planning and design and then prioritize the building of the long-awaited Mount Pleasant Pool.

So if you can encourage your friends and family to sign this petition, contact the Parks Commissioners who represent us, and otherwise advocate for Mount Pleasant, that would be another step forward towards getting a replacement pool in Mount Pleasant! Thank you all for signing!