The hot tub at the Edson and District Leisure Centre remains out of service.
In an update to council Tuesday night, Town officials say administration provided some information on the situation that has kept the hot tub out of operation in recent months.
During the assessment of the facility in the fall of 2022, officials say leakage from the existing hot tub was confirmed on the exterior and basement of the building. This is said to be a longstanding issue and has been worked on multiple times with no resolution. Town officials say the architectural and engineering team working on the YCE Multiplex project have recommended against reopening the hot tub until the cause is determined and subsurface conditions are confirmed to pose no danger. In particular, voids in the ground from long-term leakage could cause
structural concerns, officials point out.
Given the Town and Yellowhead County are actively pursuing redevelopment of the Leisure Centre site, including the construction of a new aquatics centre, administration says it is reluctant to expend a large amount of money on engineering solutions for the hot tub. Initial estimates were approximately $50,000 for engineering alone, with no guarantee of a solution. The costs of actual repair or temporary solutions are said to be hard to predict without the engineering study, however, Town officials note that one community in Alberta is currently planning to replace their hot tub at a cost of approximately $450,000.
Following the report, council voted against the motion to proceed with additional investigation into the hot tub issues. Officials say resources will instead be focused on the development of the new facility.
“We understand that the hot tub is a popular feature for facility users, but, considering all of the information, council felt it wouldn’t be fiscally prudent to move forward with putting any more
resources towards this issue. I know this isn’t the news anyone wants to hear, but our focus needs to be on the new facility which will hopefully break ground later this year,” said Edson Mayor Kevin Zahara.
Town administration says it will continue to review programming to ensure quality and value for patrons of the facility until the new multi-plex is constructed.
