UVic’s McKinnon Pool and future of aquatics infrastructure

Message from President Hall

Earlier this summer, the university announced that we had made the difficult decision to close McKinnon Pool. Since that announcement, we have heard from many members of the community—both on and off campus—who have shared their concerns and support for maintaining the pool. This has included offers to help with fundraising, along with interest from local and provincial government representatives, users of the pool and community members.  

The swelling of community support is a testament to the vital role recreational facilities play in our communities beyond a university campus—these facilities are much needed in our region. We recognize that the closure of McKinnon Pool will impact our greater community and add pressure to other facilities in the region.   

Based on the significant interest being expressed, and to gather information needed to respond to public offers to support potential fundraising, we will commission a more detailed engineering study to develop a comprehensive understanding of the work needed to keep the McKinnon Pool open for the next three to five years. 

We expect this report will provide greater detail and further cost estimates to the surveys and structural engineering reports already in hand. Our aim is to provide greater detail on the work and costs necessary to keep the McKinnon Pool operating as an interim solution while longer-term options can be fully explored. We will determine the appropriate next steps for the pool based on the results of this study.  

In order to conduct this engineering study, the pool will still close as scheduled on Sept. 15.   

We are looking forward to exploring partnerships with local and provincial governments, community users and private funders to determine what a long-term aquatic facility could look like for our community and region.  These conversations will take time, and more work and discussions are needed before we’re able to provide details of the path ahead.   

I want to thank our pool users, partners and members of the community for their patience and commitment to our community as we explore next steps.  

I commit to providing updates on both the short-term viability pending the results of the engineering report, and the longer-term conversations and progress as more information is available.   

Kevin Hall 
President and Vice-Chancellor