The City of Fredericton will develop a long-term strategy to replace the city’s nine wading pools with neighbourhood-sized splashpads as they approach end of life.
“Developing a long-term strategy allows the city to thoughtfully transition aging infrastructure into modern splash pads” said Councillor Kelly Murray, Chair of the Livable Community Committee. “This approach will provide families with young children a safe and accessible place to cool off in summer, while ensuring responsible investment in facilities that will serve our city far into the future.”
The city's nine wading pools were installed during the 1970s and after approximately fifty years are beginning to be approaching the end of life. This spring, the city engaged an independent engineering consultant to assess their condition and following this report, the Islandview wading pool in Silverwood was closed due to extensive structural issues.
Of the remaining eight wading pools, six required repairs and are expected to be operational for another five to ten years. These wading pools are located on:
• Massey Street
• Woodbridge Street
• Limerick Road
• Piercy Crescent
• Kent Street
• Longwood Drive
The remaining two wading pools are in good condition and expected to be operational for ten to fifteen years. These wading pools are located on:
• Carman Avenue
• Union Street
The strategy will be aligned with the City of Fredericton’s 2025 Recreation and Leisure Master Plan vision that focuses on improving community access to city facilities, and making recreation more accessible, inclusive and affordable.
Splashpads are accessible and inclusive for all ages, skill levels and can be used with mobility aids. As the strategy is developed, location and community demographics will be considered to ensure the new neighbourhood-sized facilities will be well used.
This update was provided at a recent Livable Community Committee meeting. Once completed, the strategy will be presented at a future committee meeting before being presented to City Council for approval, with investment priorities determined through the city’s annual budgeting process.