Kitsilano Pool and Showboat expected to be open this summer, despite damages

A few swimmers are seen at Kitsilano Pool on Monday, July 13, 2020 shortly after it reopened to the public.

Two Kitsilano summer staples are expected to be up and running this summer, despite the roadblocks they had last year, the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation announced.

The Kitsilano Pool will open for the May long weekend—weather permitting—and the Kitsilano Showboat will likely stage a season of entertainment.

It was revealed in December the pool is leaking 30,000 litres of water every hour through damaged pipes, and a fire tore through the outdoor amphitheatre last April.

Investigations into the leaking outdoor pool are ongoing, director of facility management Carrie Hughes told commissioners at Monday’s meeting.

“Most of that is actually seawater. Seawater coming into the pool and then leaking out,” she said.

She said workers have found crushed pipes, failing expansion joins and “extensive” cracking and delaminating in the pool basin.

Some repairs have happened, but won’t be done in time for the summer and work will have to continue in the fall.

“We know we’re not going to get everything completed before the pool opens, however we’re making every effort to ensure that the pool will be opened, very usable during the season unless there’s something that comes completely out of the blue,” said Hughes.

The pool has undergone $5 million worth of planned—and unplanned—repair work over the last eight years, the presentation said. Most notably, the Kits Pool was severely damaged during a King Tide event in 2022.

Hughes added that the cost of maintaining Vancouver’s busiest outdoor pool is increasing every year as it gets older—it opened in 1931 and has seen major renovations twice, in the 1970s and in 2018.

Commissioner Tom Digby said at the December meeting that the Kits Pool is at the “end of life.”

The park board is trying to secure funding for a feasibility study to decide what will be done with the asset—the longest saltwater pool in North America—which could include a full renewal.

The board has also applied for $2 million in mid-term 2025 funding for pipe repairs, a custom pool liner to reduce basin maintenance and saltwater treatment to reduce the facility’s dependency on potable water, Hughes said.

Meanwhile, the board heard at Monday’s meeting that a structural report has found the Kitsilano Showboat is safe to open for the summer.

“My understanding is the Showboat will open for the season,” Hughes said. "Unless we're told otherwise, we're working towards that.”