VALENTINE Hydrotherapy Pools secretary John McGrath is "optimistic" the aquatic centre has a future and more than 50 years of community effort to keep it operating won't go to waste.
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The centre's committee has been working towards a council takeover for the best part of two years after foreshadowing an inability to fund maintenance works.
The council awarded it a $10,000 grant last year while staff undertook due diligence on the facility.
Councillors voted in July to defer a decision on a takeover in order to assess the centre's condition compared to Toronto Swim Centre prior to its $8 million upgrade.
The site inspection was completed last week and attended by all but one councillor.
Mr McGrath said the level of attendance was an "excellent" sign and the visit would have left councillors with no doubts about the centre's condition and its value to the community.
"There was some reason for optimism," he said. "If there's sincerity in their comments, we've moved a lot closer to saving the pools than prior to the inspection."
The centre has 25 and 15-metre pools, a splash pool and hydrotherapy pool. It was built by the community and has been run by volunteers for more than five decades. The committee leases the land from the council.
At the last council meeting, staff had recommended against taking it over due to the level of investment needed to upgrade mainly the non-hydrotherapy pools and a view that the city's six swim centres offered residents access to swimming facilities.
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Staff said the centre did "not meet modern standards expected of a public swim centre due to its age, construction techniques used and layout". An upgrade was estimated to cost between $11.2 and $14.6 million.
Mr McGrath was critical of the information provided to councillors at that meeting, saying staff had not "compared apples with apples".
"This is a centre that is designed to cater to a broad spectrum of the community and operates year-round," he said. "It is a very necessary piece of infrastructure."
The matter returns to council next week and a report prepared for Monday's meeting shows staff have recommended holding a councillor briefing to discuss the potential options and their financial impact in greater detail.
The Newcastle Herald understands a private operator has expressed interest in potentially managing the facility and that will be explored in the briefing.
Mr McGrath said it did not matter who ran the facility.
"Any way we can save these pools will represent an outcome to the community that is acceptable," he said.
Mr McGrath said the regular users of the hydrotherapy pool were "really suffering" without access to the centre, which closed in March due to the coronavirus.
"Some of them have been using Toronto but it's a massive inconvenience to them and they don't find it as satisfying as using the Valentine pool," he said.
"But a lot of people are really suffering as they're not getting an opportunity to treat their injuries. It makes a massive difference to lifestyle for a lot of people. If it closes [for good], that's lost."
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