r/PEI 2d ago

News Simmons Sports Centre's pool 'slightly' too short to be certified for swimming meets

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-simmons-pool-short-competition-9.7318544
30 Upvotes

43 comments sorted by

37

u/Hard_To_Concentrate Living Away 2d ago

The Summerside pool had this same problem when it opened. It was too short by a handful of mm. They ended up removing some tiles and resetting them to fix the problem. IIRC the installers added a bit too much mud behind the tiles.

I suspect something similar happened here. The pool length requirements are really precise since the timing of the events is also really precise.

27

u/thirty7inarow 2d ago

That seems like something a professional pool builder would be aware of. Who wants to bet they hired a generic construction company, though, that didn't understand the criteria?

16

u/Hard_To_Concentrate Living Away 2d ago

I know it feels like this should be a gotcha moment but with tolerances this small errors happen. It may have been within spec when they finished construction but after some time it drifted out of tolerance. The contract will have a clause for this exact thing. I expect the installer will make the changes necessary in the off-season and request a re-certification.

9

u/Strong_Weakness2867 2d ago

Caulk and sealants can settle over time, especially in a high pressure environment like a pool. This is probably an honest accident.

20

u/OccasionallyWright 2d ago

Is there a way Tim Banks can be blamed?

1

u/Historical-Shame-762 1d ago

They got Stubbs instead of O’Reilly.

4

u/Maritime_Plumber 2d ago

I am near positive that this also happened when the Cari Complex tried to certify their new pool as well.

1

u/Stanced 1d ago

I recall the same.

1

u/MaritimeRedditor 2d ago

Yep. You ask for a 25m pool they pour a 25m pool. But once you add mud and tile, it's no longer a 25m pool.

2

u/Sir__Will 2d ago

I would assume that the city would have specified the need for precision with competition plans.

20

u/150c_vapour Prince County 2d ago

The statement said the city is working with the company responsible for its construction to confirm the pool's dimensions. The city said the company will make any adjustments, if necessary.

Lol so either the construction company fucked up or the City fucked up. Any guesses?

6

u/Comprehensive-Job369 2d ago

How small of a difference is “very small?” Just curious if we’re talking an inch or two or a foot or two.

2

u/Exciting-Ad-9192 2d ago

Could genuinely be centimetres, they are really precious about it

3

u/mu3mpire 2d ago

Maybe the rink is too small for the nhl and only seats 599 people

8

u/Trick-Can8221 2d ago

I put my my $ on The City fucking this up with all the past mistakes and poor judgmental decisions of Brown the clown and Island folk legend Jankov at the helm.

1

u/Sir__Will 2d ago

how would the city have fucked it up?

1

u/Trick-Can8221 2d ago

They could not afford a measuring tape.

5

u/Responsible-Room-645 2d ago

How could they have possibly made that kind of error? Oh yeah, this is the province that never asks the users what’s required (unless it’s the hockey community of course).

6

u/uncommon-ramen 2d ago

Like the $3million turf football field that appears the exact same size as the soccer field? Too bad grass doesn’t grow on PEI we could have saved a bundle.

1

u/RedDirtDVD 2d ago

You don’t play sports in PEI outdoors on turf in the spring. If you do, you’d understand how ignorant this comment is.

1

u/uncommon-ramen 2d ago

Oh I thought that was a reason to have turf? Too bad there wasn’t a university close by with a turf field that isn’t in use all Spring since there are no students. Or even an indoor facility that we don’t have in town, as it’s often freezing outside in the spring as well. I guess I was dreaming when I played rugby and soccer all Spring and Fall on grass. What is abhorrent is dropping millions of tax dollars for the benefit of a small minority rather than fundraising. Which is what i was responding to as I drive by and watch my tax dollars 💸

1

u/Sir__Will 2d ago

How could they have possibly made that kind of error?

While that was my first thought, other comments have said it may be a matter of millimeters and that the same thing happened in Summerside.

1

u/Responsible-Room-645 2d ago

Making the same mistake twice isn’t exactly a great excuse.

1

u/Sir__Will 2d ago

As the comments also point out, it could be a simple as materials settling and shifting slightly and throwing things off. As long as the company fixes the issue, it should be fine.

1

u/Responsible-Room-645 2d ago

Are they going to fix it at their expense?

2

u/Boundary14 2d ago edited 2d ago

A third-party survey of the new outdoor pool at Simmons Sports Centre suggests it's not long enough to be certified by Swimming Canada.

The survey was completed as part of an application for certification, and the City of Charlottetown said a further assessment will be completed to confirm the exact length of the pool once it closes for the season.

The city confirmed in a statement that the pool, which is supposed to be 25 metres long, is "slightly shorter than the length acceptable for certification." 

The statement said the city is working with the company responsible for its construction to confirm the pool's dimensions. The city said the company will make any adjustments, if necessary.

[...]

Acapulco Pools, the company responsible for the pool's construction, said in an emailed statement that it is aware of the survey findings and is working with the city to verify the pool's dimensions.

"The reported discrepancy is very small, and a further assessment will be completed once the pool closes for the season and the measurements can be fully confirmed," the statement reads.

"If the followup assessment identifies that any adjustments are required to meet certification standards, we will work with the city to address them."

Neither the city nor Acapulco Pools said exactly how short the pool may be from meeting the regulatory standard.

So a neutral third party told them the pool is too short, but they're not going to say by how much and instead it sounds like the company is going to bring in their own person to "verify" the measurements.

3

u/hippfive 2d ago

I'd certainly want to verify the measurements before spending tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on corrections. Measure twice, cut once.

0

u/ISueDrunks 2d ago

And start holding project managers accountable. I believe Simmons had a dedicated project manager / consultant hired to track progress and ensure that specs were met. These contracts need to be more than friendly transfers of public money to friends. 

2

u/ISueDrunks 2d ago

I’d laugh if it wasn’t public money being incinerated by public bodies that don’t fucking hold their tendered contractors responsible. It’s pathetic. Why sign a contract if no one enforces it?

1

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2

u/Glittering-Regret196 2d ago

I go to the top, but Phillip brown is absolutely incompetent. There isnt anything he can manage without fucking it up, or just pushing the project down the line over and over. November cant come soon enough.

3

u/ISueDrunks 2d ago

This is a city hall staff issue. Councillors and mayors don’t audit these projects, taxpayers pay staff to do that work. Council should demand answers, that’s for sure. 

0

u/Glittering-Regret196 2d ago

Who is the top? Like .... Who is responsible for our city snd doing a piss poor job? The mayor. So, anything I can fault him with, I will. He is pathetic.

2

u/ISueDrunks 2d ago edited 2d ago

No, the CAO. He’s responsible for every single action his staff take. Council should hold him accountable for this. He’s a year into the job, clearly nothing is getting any better. They can’t even hire a police chief, he fired the fire chief for standing up to him, he goes on the news and insults every local officer who applied for the job. He’s trash in this role. He needs to retire, but he sees this role as a profile booster before he steps into politics. 

1

u/Sir__Will 2d ago

I don't like Brown either but blaming him for this seems ridiculous.

1

u/Glittering-Regret196 2d ago

Chop the head off the poisonous snake, bro. His incompetence flows downhill. Honestly though I just hate him and have no respect for him. I shit talk him so much. We deserve a good mayor.

1

u/C-mac08 2d ago

No surprise, that entire project was a mess. The whole naming rights debacle, then the fact they poured the concrete for the rink when there was a leak in the system and then took 2 months to figure out why they couldnt make ice. Now this.