The City of Kamloops says there will be a six week closure at the Westsyde Pool this spring as Phase Two of renovations gets underway.

Parks and Civic Facilities Manager Jeff Putnam says the $1.3-million upgrades are part of a multi-year plan that began in 2016, noting the pool will be closed from March 23 until May 11.

“We always intended to come back and do a complete replacement of the mechanical and HVAC and ventilation systems,” said Putnam.

“We felt at the time that we could get away with the existing mechanical, dehumidification systems and then we also wanted to split the budgets up a little bit just to make it easier on the taxpayer and phase it in over a few years.”

Crews will also be installing acoustic panels to lower sound levels in the building, with Putnam saying the scope of the renovations at Westsyde Pool is similar to that at the Canada Games Pool at the Tournament Capital Centre.

“At Canada Games Pool, they’ll be replacing the HVAC and mechanical systems as they are doing here, but at the same time, they are completely replacing the roof and the wall systems, which was done at Westsyde Pool back in 2016,” said Putnam.

“I guess there are some similarities though on a much smaller scale.”

He says the fitness area and change rooms at Westsyde Pool will remain open during construction. There won’t however be any swim programs during the closure, and people are urged to use either the Brock Outdoor pool or the Canada Games Pool.

“Members have two options during this period,” noted Putnam. “They may cancel their pass for a pro-rated refund or keep their pass active to access the gym facility.”

And Putnam is confident that Westsyde Pool will reopen before the six-month closure at the Canada Games Pool, which is set for the end of June. After Westsyde Pool reopens, it will have extended hours to make up for displaced TCC pool users.