Inuvik’s swimming pool’s status remains the same it has been for the last two years — opening very soon.
An update on the situation was posted to the town website July 5 afternoon. The update details the work that has been done on the pool, which has been an ongoing source of logistical problems for the town since it was shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Work is well underway to completion of the project although several unforeseen hurdles out of the Town’s control have been encountered in the past few months which has had a significant impact on the project schedule, and we continue to encounter hurdles even this near the finish line,” wrote town SAO Grant Hood in the release. “The final phases of the project are to complete the installation of the new liner which is 80% complete and the complete testing of all the various systems.
“This final phase has been the biggest challenge to date with the contractor dealing with staffing issues just like everyone else it seems in the country. The liner work is something that requires training and or proper supervision. The contractor has made their best efforts to supply workers for this a project and had someone scheduled for this week however due to the road issues in the Yukon and BC this has now been delayed.”
Hood added that even once the pool has been given approval to fill up, the town still needs to certify lifeguards which could take up to another month.
He thanked residents for their patience as the town continued to navigate the ongoing work needed to be done on the pool, which included completely reworking the piping for the basin, raising the wall of the lazy river portion and replacing old tiles, constructing new access points to the plumbing other water feature repairs that came up as the project went on.
“While the situation is not one the Town wants to be in and given the recent weather trends having a refreshing pool would be nice, but we like others have become the victims of a situation outside our control,” wrote Hood.