More than a decade after first pondering a replacement for the Canada Games Pool, the City of New Westminster opened its new aquatic and community centre in 2024.
In 2010, the city hired a consultant to investigate the possibilities for renewing the Canada Games Pool and Centennial Community Centre facilities. Options included a patch-up job and major renovation and costs ranging from $22 to $55 million in 2010 dollars.
Eventually, city council supported a plan that included full replacement of both facilities, took action to borrow funds needed to build the project, consulted with community members about their vision for the new facility, and got to work on the project.
New Westminster opened the new $114.6-million təməsew̓txʷ Aquatic and Community Centre in the spring of 2024.
“Opened just six months ago, təməsew̓txʷ is the biggest single capital investment the City of New Westminster has ever made and is now welcoming more than 3,000 people a day to use this facility,” Mayor Patrick Johnstone said in December.
The facility replaced the recreational opportunities once provided at Canada Games Pool, which closed suddenly in September 2021, and Centennial Community Centre, which closed in November 2023 as part of the TACC construction.
The 10,644-square-metre (114,571-square-foot) facility includes: an eight-lane, 50-metre pool; a leisure pool with a lazy river, hot pools, and tot zone; a fitness centre; two gymnasiums; multi-purpose rooms; and community gathering spaces.
The community centre side of the building opened on April 29, followed by then unveiling of the Miyíw̓ts – Water's Edge public art on May 8 and the aquatic centre opening on May 14. The city held a grand opening celebration of təməsew̓txʷ on June 1.
External recognition
In October, city officials the city learned the facility had been shortlisted by the Prix Versailles selection committee as one of the World's Most Beautiful Sports Venues for 2024. At an awards ceremony at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, the New Westminster project was selected as the World’s Most Beautiful Sports Venues (Interior) – beating out projects like the Olympic Aquatic Centre in Paris.
Paul Fast, a principal and lead architect with hcma, said “beauty” for this project was defined as a place that would welcome everyone through its doors.
“When we look at the history of the Canada Games Pool and the legacy that that building had in this community, and we look at the building that we have here today, I think it's really fulfilled that mandate,” he told the Record in December. “We know that there's so many more people in this community now that have a place that they can call home.”
Leading the Record on a tour of the building in December, staff pointed out some of the features that were included to help make təməsew̓txʷ Aquatic and Community Centre a welcoming place for all. That includes furniture arrangements in the lobby that are designed to make everyone feel welcome and the provision of multi-generational program spaces.
In a hallway on the aquatic side of the building, an elderly community member exits a universal change room and grabs onto a railing running along the length of the wall. It’s not something required by the BC Building Code, but it is an example of the type of features included in the design in an effort to support visitors who may have mobility challenges.
Fast said accessibility features in the pool facilities include “zero entry ramps” into all of the pools, which allows people of all abilities to enter the pools.
Corrinne Garrett, the city’s senior manager of recreation services and facilities, said facility’s design included the ability to set up privacy screens between the two pools.
“We can hold sensory-friendly, all-body swims, women's only swims in this pool, while still offering public and leisure swimming in the 50-metre pool,” she said. “We’ve started to offer those one a month this fall. And then come the winter, in January, we're going to be offering those more often, because we received a grant to get the privacy screening. … That was something that was intentionally designed right from the get-go, because we didn't have the ability in the Canada Games Pool to provide a safe space for those swimmers who needed privacy or sensory-friendly environments.”
Garrett said the facility has achieved a gold rating under the Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification program, but it has continued to make other accommodations since opening.
“The build and the design were great, but then we're still adding features to the building as we go along,” she said. “We want to be very responsive to the customer needs.”
