It’s official – the city of Kamloops will begin work to upgrade the Canada Games Pool almost two months ahead of schedule, as first reported by NL News last week.

The city says demolition on the roof and walls will get underway this week, as the Tournament Capital Centre – like all public buildings – was closed due to COVID-19.

Capital Projects Manager Darren Crundwell says crews are confident the $13.5 million project will be completed on time, in early January.

“We were waiting until the end of June [to get going] because of a swim meet, and obviously that swim meet is not happening anymore, it’s been cancelled,” Crundwell told NL News.

“The whole project team has really thought how we can get this done and do it safely. But having said that, nobody has done a lot of work in this environment yet, so we’re still guessing at how efficient we can be with some of the tasks.”

Crews will be replacing key components of the facility that are near or past their expected design life, including the roof and walls of the pool building; the boilers; and the mechanical, electrical, and HVAC systems. Crundwell says there will also be upgrades to LED lighting and more energy-efficient hot tubs, sauna, and the steam room.

In addition, work to replace the artificial turf at Hillside Stadium will get underway next Tuesday, May 19. The city will be spending $566,000 on this project, and the stadium is set to reopen in late July.