Sign this petition if you want Vernon's Mayor and Council to direct staff to go back to the drawing board, do adequate surveys about what residents want, and consider making the new Active Living Centre into a FUN POOL like Kelowna’s H2O for Vernon families!

The current ALC design has little for older children and youth who are not into competitive sports! There are no exciting slides, no wave pool, no lazy river run, and no FlowRider. And the 50 m lap pool will be filled with cold water, like the current 25 m lap pool, because athletic lap swimmers don't like overheating. 

What is the reason for the very poor survey questions and inadequate consultation process in the Active Living Centre Feasibility Study?

Surveys either failed to adequately profile respondents or failed to ask questions about fun aquatic features. Surveys that did not randomize or profile respondents likely underrepresent busy families and over-represent lap and competitive swimmers who are more engaged with pool staff. However, families and children are the bulk of pool users through swimming lessons and leisure swimming. The inadequacy of these surveys raises serious questions about the competence and/or motivation of City of Vernon staff. 

Despite a large survey in 2018 as part of the Vernon Recreation Master Plan that showed a "leisure swimming pool is the most desired indoor facility space", the one statistically valid Active Living Centre survey did not even ask Vernon residents about what leisure features they would prefer.

The statistically valid Direct Mail Survey profiled the 530 respondents, but the questions were very limited. The survey had only one question about aquatic features (see page 17). Respondents were asked to choose two of a list of four options: 

1. Leisure pool (shallow water area with amenities such as a lazy river and spray features)
2. 25 metre pool (similar to the current lap pool at the Vernon Aquatic Centre)
3. 50 metre pool (with a bulkhead that allows for the pool to be divided into 2 x 25 metre pools)
4. A smaller, secondary pool (3-4 lane pool with warmer water than the main pool that can accommodate aquatics programming, provide space for therapeutic uses, provide warm-up space for competitions and accommodate additional lane swimming, etc.)
5. I don’t support any of these spaces being developed 

From this limited question, City of Vernon's recreation services director Doug Ross, claimed, "... the feedback that we got back was - the number one thing was a 50-metre pool and then the second thing was a secondary warmer pool and the third thing was a leisure pool. What came out of the feasibility study was that we needed a pool that would serve the everyday needs of the community and not go for something like a wave pool that's more of a tourist attraction. The number one request taken from the public consultation wasn't an H20 type facility” ...  because the public was never asked if they wanted H2O type aquatic features. They were only given limited options about pools that were already part of the design from the beginning. How can the design of a $121 million facility be based on this inadequate consultation?

The current ALC plan prioritizes the needs of competitive swimmers and adults for cool-water lap swimming, an indoor walking track and exercise equipment over the needs of families and youth for a fun aquatic centre. Children and youth who want a fun pool are not prioritized.

If you agree that proper opinion surveying about water park features should be done AND fun aquatic features like exciting slides, a lazy river run, a wave pool and FlowRider should be considered for Vernon's youth…

... and you live in the Vernon area,

... sign this petition!

 

ONLINE SURVEY:

You can also do a survey to communicate your priorities for an aquatic centre. We think this is the survey that you should have been given!

Vernon Active Living Centre Citizen-Run Survey

This survey will be submitted to Vernon’s Mayor and Council along with this petition in the new year. Vernon Youth and Families worked hard on this petition, so give it a go! The survey is neutral in that it will communicate your priorities if you disagree with this petition too! The survey is designed to assess what Vernon area citizens actually want and how much they should pay.

Share this with your friends and family! Let's put some pressure on Vernon’s Mayor and Council to make sure our money is well spent and we get the new Aquatic Centre we want!

 

Further Information:

In 2018, a large survey of more than 2,280 Vernon area households showed that people wanted a FUN LEISURE POOL more than any other recreation options.

Vernon residents have been clamouring for a new pool like Kelowna's H2O for decades now and so they said YES, to borrowing the largest amount of money Vernon has ever borrowed: $121 million for a new Active Living Centre with.... at last... a new pool!

Given that Kelowna's H20 Aquatic Centre was built for $44 million in 2006 ($70 M in 2022 dollars), $121 M should buy an AWESOME pool for Vernon... right? The companies that designed and built H2O are still in Kelowna and ready to go.

But NO. The plans for the Vernon ALC show a 50 m 8-lane, cool-water lap pool as the main feature, a 3-lane, warm-water, 25 m pool for lessons and a shallow, warm-water "leisure pool" with a TINY TOT SLIDE, a couple of sprayers and a pathetic C-shaped "lazy river".

No wave pool, no big awesome slides, no sinuous lazy river, no amazing FlowRider, no wave pool.

So, for a huge sum of money ($300 per year for 30 years for the average Vernon house), Vernon will essentially have the same aquatic centre they have now, but with a 50 m pool instead of a 25 m pool, and a tot slide instead of a corkscrew slide. How is this progress for anyone but lap swimmers?!

The plan is to have the 50 m lap pool (which staff have said will be COLD, LIKE THE CURRENT LAP POOL) double as a leisure pool. They will occasionally drop in a wave ball or suspend monkey bars (“Ninjacross”) or float a blow-up terrain feature (Witbit) in the cold water. It seems likely that staff will get tired of inflating, deflating and fixing a Witbit leading to many disappointments at the new ALC, just the way kids are constantly disappointed that the slide is shut and the rope swing cant be used when they go to the current pool. And monkey bars are simply not as fun as big, crazy slides! A wave ball is cool, but it makes 1-2 foot waves, not 3 foot waves like H2O’s wave pool. It is simply false to say that children get bored of exiting slides, wave pools, lazy rivers or FlowRiders. These features are new to each new generation of children. The focus on “versatility” here just means kids and youth lose out.

City of Vernon staff claim that the 50 m lap pool will be warmed up a bit during swim lessons. It takes a long time and a lot of energy to warm up or cool down that much water. Already families drive to other communities so their kids can swim in warmer, pools that are more fun. Already kids shiver during lessons in Vernon's cold lap pool. Cold kids can’t stay and enjoy the pool. None of these will change.

Youth are struggling with addiction to screens and social media. They deserve a fun place to hang out with friends in the real world so they stay active and off drugs. Families need a fun place to relax in the winter, especially if they don’t ski. Competitive swimmers are a small portion of Vernon residents. The rest of us should not have to pay so much for so little benefit.

Anyone who has ever tried the FlowRider at H2O will tell you it is AMAZING and EXILLARATING, and there is always a lineup for it. It’s perfect for developing snowboarding, wakeboarding or skateboarding skills. The wave pool and lazy river at H2O are packed with children and the slides are in continuous use. 

We aren’t against a 50 m lap pool or all the dry land facilities (walking/running track, 80 unit aerobic and weight room, double gym, multipurpose rooms etc.) proposed as part of the ALC. But a leisure pool was supposed to be the first priority. And proper consultation about the design of the pool facility is needed. This $121 M should prioritize the FUN AQUATIC CENTRE Vernon asked for years ago!

If Vernon is willing to do proper consultation through a well-designed survey, and open up the design process for input by surrounding areas (District of Coldstream, and Areas B and C) Vernon’s mayor and council could secure a MUCH better deal for Vernon residents that maximizes the enjoyment of the aquatic center and lowers the total bill for the ALC (and Vernon taxes) significantly.

Proper surveying should be done and fun aquatic features like exciting slides should be considered for Vernon's youth!

Sign if you agree!