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Equipment failure closes Tony Rose pool

July 11, 2024   ·   1 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS

A crucial piece of equipment’s failure at the Tony Rose Memorial Sports Centre has led Orangeville to consider the pool’s future.

A report from the town’s Department of Community Services said that, despite numerous attempts to fix the unit over the past year, the equipment is unrepairable. With the onset of increased warm air and high humidity, mold has started to grow on the acoustic panels and is noticeable on equipment.

Council weighed during its July 8 meeting the option to either spend $1.1 million or temporarily shutter the pool to allow staff to conduct an assessment.

Council decided to undertake a full assessment of the pool at the sports centre following the demise of the pool’s dehumidification unit in June. The assessment will identify the full extent of remediation required for the pool and consider other usage opportunities for the facility.

The pool was shut down at the time of the equipment failure to allow staff to assess the extent of costs and to consider a course of action. 

“This isn’t just about one piece of equipment,” said Heather Savage, the town’s general manager of community services. “It’s about due diligence, allowing us to assess what’s best for the community, what we can afford, and providing the opportunity to present well-considered options to the council.”

The arena equipment failure was a contentious topic during the July 8 town council meeting. A handful of residents voiced their disfavour at how such a crucial piece of equipment could deteriorate unnoticed by municipal staff.

It was pointed out that the Tony Rose situation is just another example of what one resident described as mismanagement of municipal assets.

Work at the Alder Street arena’s pool took much longer than anticipated and required much more money than initially budgeted. The C Line thoroughfare has been dug up for culvert replacement. And most recently, residents have been urged to conserve drinking water from a leaking system.

“We had a robust discussion about Tony Rose Memorial Sports Centre and we had a number of passionate delegates who spoke about the importance of that facility to them,” Mayor Lisa Post said in a social media post following the meeting. “Thank you to everyone who spoke and sent in correspondence. This was not a decision that any of us took lightly and we know the discussion is only just beginning.”

During the July 8 meeting, staff were directed to conduct the assessment and report back with the findings. Council also requested recreation and transportation staff work together to assess and communicate the bus routes and access between both recreation facilities.

“The reality is that the taxpayers of Orangeville have been footing the bill for a majority of the recreation offerings in the County of Dufferin forever, specifically the capital expenditures,” Post said on social media. “It is time to think differently about how we move forward; this moment in time is our opportunity to do that.”

A needs assessment will review user rates at the Alder and Tony Rose facilities, analyze future demands, compared to similar municipalities while ensuring the plan meets industry standards.

The pool will remain closed during the assessment.

“None of us are engineers or water experts or wastewater experts,” Mayor Lisa Post said during the council meeting. “We do have very capable staff who are taking care all of those areas. So often we will defer your technical questions to some of them.”

In council’s defence, Post said council is “collectively right now dealing with decades and decades and decades of underspending in infrastructure and in our assets.”

She also said Orangeville taxpayers have long subsidized the recreational pursuits of residents of other Dufferin County municipalities.

“The capital expenditures in particular, and this is our moment in time to think differently about how we move forward with recreation,” Post wrote on social media. “And I want to be clear when I say that we are grateful to be the urban hub that our neighbours can rely on, but the historic funding model is not a sustainable option.”

The facility’s closure does not extend to the full Tony Rose Memorial Sports Centre facility. The pool is the only element that will be closed during the assessment.

“The time is needed to create a data-driven report on how this space can best serve our community,” said Savage. “The findings of this study will give us a clearer understanding of the financial investment required to ensure the pool is fully functioning and examine what other options may exist for the space.” 

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