Public “disappointed and frustrated” with Complex delays

January 28, 2015 · 0 Comments

With just a few days before the Aurora Leisure Complex (AFLC) re-opening to the public for the swimming pool and the gym, all plans are now cancelled.
February 28, 16 months after it was closed for renovations, is the next target date for the AFLC to be fully operational. Swim lessons are now being run at the pool; but the gym is closed and there is no general swimming for the public.
This is not just an inconvenience to many of the Auroran tax payers; it is also a loss of employment for many of the university and high school students who work as lifeguards and as support staff.
The staffing has been cut back to service just one complex now at the Stronach Aurora Recreational Complex. The Youth Center is also closed off at the Industrial Parkway location until further notification from the Town officials. Will this delay increase the cost of the renovations and cause the project to go over the original budget?
This is an example of poor planning by the Town’s administration.
Why all the hoopla about the grand opening when it was quite clear the AFLC would not be ready for it a long time ago? Official schedules were printed off in December which illustrated the swim times at both swimming pools, etc. There were tours of the Leisure Complex in late December to show off the improvements of the renovations.
This was a short term strategy to win some public support, but the public is now frustrated and disappointed by the series of delays for the full opening of the facility.
One wonders what were the construction crews doing last summer or fall, when there was an opportunity to make good progress on the construction? When I drove by the building site, it seemed like a ghost town. Furthermore, what was this closure all about?
For example, in the men’s change room there has been some paint and plaster applied to spruce up the walls, but the showers have not been changed here. The women’s and the family change rooms, however, got new plumbing faucets and tile in their shower stalls.
Surely, you would think that all of the change rooms would have received the same type of renovations. Can you imagine what the public outcry would have been if it were the women’s and family change rooms which received the second class treatment?

Jim Jackson
Aurora