Vancouver pool users rally to save Lord Byng Pool

It may be old and small, but it's worth keeping.

That's the message from dozens of people in Vancouver's West Point Grey neighbourhood who want to save their local pool, Lord Byng. 

Residents gathered Sunday at a nearby auditorium to sing, make speeches and organize against the Vancouver Park Board, which is expected to vote on its VanSplash Aquatics strategy — a 25-year plan for the city's recreational water amenities — before the end of the year.

The park board wants to accommodate more people at the city's pools. So far the plan has been to decommission small pools such as Lord Byng and Templeton to make way for larger pools, described as "destination pools."

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"I'm not against big destination pools like Hillcrest and those kind of destination pools, but I think there's something lost in not having local pools," said Phil Rankin, who uses Lord Byng pool with his paddling club.

"Us old people don't like these big pools, we like the intimacy of the small pools, we like to be able to walk to the pool."

Others at Sunday's forum said the pool is used by a diverse group of people.

Serena McDonnell grew up in the neighbourhood and has been using the pool since she was a child. She says she likes the sense of community at a small facility like Lord Byng.

"I think a common misconception especially with the images that have been put online is that it's only old people who use the pool," she said. "It's not just one certain demographic that's using the pool, it's everybody."

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Officials say decommissioning some facilities and making others bigger could increase capacity at the city's indoor pools by 30 per cent.

Vancouver has nine indoor pools and five outdoor pools, far fewer than cities of comparable size. 

Sarah Kirby-Yung, a park board commissioner who attended the forum, says she's listening.

"I think what we see here just really affirms that aquatics are really important to people and not just access, but that they're in their neighbourhoods," she said.

"And the sense of community we see around Lord Byng and Templeton has been phemonenal."

Residents who attended the forum on Sunday say they will show up to the next park board meeting on Dec. 11 as part of a friendly protest at the board's office and to sing Christmas carols.

The agenda for the meeting includes recommendations on Lord Byng and Templeton pools.

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