What do we do about the Inglewood Pool?

For 60 years, generations of Inglewood residents have taught their children to swim in the Inglewood Pool. The City of Calgary is now threatening to tear down the pool. I will fight to save it.

The Inglewood Aquatic Centre was first constructed in 1963, on land donated by the Cross family. Mr. A.E Cross was a prominent Inglewood industrialist who founded the Calgary Brewing and Malting Company in 1891. The pool was originally built for the company’s employees and their families. Later, when the land was donated to the city, the local community raised money to enclose the formerly outdoor pool and make it accessible year-round. Financial contributions from the city likely aided the transition, but locals remember that community members came together too.

At 60+ years old, the facility is no longer new. In fact, it’s old. And small. And only provides the basic function of being a pool to swim in. These are rather modest offerings when compared to the mega (and multi-million dollar) recreation facilities built by the City of Calgary today. But is that the best way to measure the value of this facility?

Over the last six decades, how many families have used the Inglewood pool as a place to meet their neighbours, to swim in a facility that they can walk to, to watch their children’s first swimming lesson?

So here we are at a crossroads, between the future and the past. What do we do about the Inglewood pool?

The Inglewood community has been contributing to the tax base of the city of Calgary longer than any other neighbourhood in this city. When the city previously looked to expand over the years, it could rest assured that the major investments required to maintain this community had long since been paid, and it could simply expect to receive its tax revenue and use the income to build out new communities. But now we're at a time when these old communities need new injections of investment. The city is rapidly growing, and it has never been more desirable to live in the "inner city”. Nineth Avenue - known as Atlantic Avenue in the days of Mr. A.E Cross - has started to grow upwards and it is now the residential address of hundreds of new Inglewoodians.

Don’t the future residents of Inglewood deserve the basic recreation and community facilities their grandparents enjoyed? Shouldn’t they be able to build memories like the generations before them?

And if we account for the growth of our neighbouring communities like Ramsay, and Bridgeland, is removing walkable access to a public facility like this really in the community's best interests?

I believe it is in the best interests of the city and its future, to maintain the Inglewood pool. To make the major investment and to restore this facility. With the Beltline pool having lost the fight, and the Eau Claire YMCA also being closed, the Inglewood pool is one of the last remaining facilities of its kind. I believe we are obligated to meet the needs of these communities and their unique membership base.

In talking with concerned residents about the pool, the main theme is that they do not want to give up the walkability and ease of access to a facility of this kind. And why should they? Why are we asking these people to get in their cars and drive out of their community to access something they’ve always had? And for those without cars? Seniors? Children? Urban living should be walkable and easily accessible.

I see two options that could work to keep the Inglewood pool open: A major renovation to the existing facility, making the needed investments to broaden the community’s capacities to service not only Inglewood, but Ramsay, Bridgeland, and residents from the East Village.

Or, a private-public partnership (PPP) with the developers who hope to add more residential addresses to the neighbourhood. The land the Inglewood pool is on is zoned for redevelopment, to bring mixed residential and commercial use to the area–much like what we’ve seen at 9th Avenue and 13th Street. What if the city were to partner with the developer to have street-level access to a City of Calgary recreation facility, with residential above? This is not unlike the mixed-use facility we used to enjoy at the Eau Claire YMCA.

A PPP involves a financial contribution by the City to support the building of a facility better suited for the years ahead and is also a major selling feature for the developer, hoping to entice new buyers to join us in Inglewood. It also maintains access to a community facility for our neighbourhood. This is not as unusual a proposition as you might think. It was only a year ago that the City of Calgary intended to partner with a development firm to build a new fire station at 11th Avenue and 12th Street S.E. with residential above.

A successful PPP of this kind could usher in a new era of collaborative investment for the City of Calgary. It would set the tone for future re-development in our older communities and assure residents that the best things about our neighbourhoods will be there, with us tomorrow.

I promise you, once again, that I will fight to save the Inglewood Pool and fiercely advocate for recreational facilities for the residents of Ward 9.

My name is Harrison M. Clark. I am running to be your City Councillor in Ward 9.

Contact me for full size versions of this poster.

Contact me for full size versions of this poster.

Contact me for full size versions of this poster.