The city may be to blame for the leak that forced the closure of a community pool at the foot of 1 Yonge St. late last year, according to the developer.
鈥淭he pool ran for an entire year with no issue,鈥 said Anson Kwok, vice-president of sales and marketing, Pinnacle International. “Then the city drained the water really quickly, then filled it really quickly.鈥
Kwok said the process聽of emptying the pool needs to take place slowly, over a period of several days, to avoid stressing the concrete.
He said the city has confirmed that it drained the pool on Oct. 9, 2024, in 10 hours.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 quite a shock to a pool聽鈥 that鈥檚 a lot of water,” said Kwok. “It鈥檚 a six-lane, 25-metre pool.”
Pinnacle agreed to build a community centre and pool at the foot of the condo building in exchange for zoning concessions from the city. The agreement was hailed at the time as an example of how collaboration with developers could result in significant community benefits.
Now the city and the developer appear dug into their positions over the pool聽鈥 the city is blaming Pinnacle, and Pinnacle is blaming the city for a leak that forced the complete closure of the pool in December.
Kwok said the city decided not to hire the maintenance company that originally installed the pool; did not provide Pinnacle with maintenance logbooks to review; and will not share with them an engineering report prepared at the city’s behest.
Kwok said Pinnacle would like to have the engineering report peer-reviewed.
鈥淭he ask from the city is to 鈥 pretty much demolish the entire pool, pull every tile off, and start again,鈥 said Kwok.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of hard to justify, if you get a scratch on your car, to replace the entire car.鈥
The city said the pool was drained twice in October 2024 and once in December 2024, due to the jet covers coming loose. The December draining coincided with annual maintenance work.
The city said the pool contractor was on site for the second and third draining procedure, but not the first.聽
A city spokesperson said that the operations and maintenance manual that Pinnacle provided at the time of the pool鈥檚 handover did not include draining or filling rates, and that those instructions were provided by the pool contractor after the pool was drained on October for warranty work.聽
The city said Pinnacle has declined to repair the pool leaks under its warranty obligations to the city.
鈥淭he city remains open to working with Pinnacle, provided they submit a viable repair plan that ensures a durable, long-term solution to the pool leaks,” said the city spokesperson.
The city expects Pinnacle to absorb the total cost of the repair under warranty. It says the engineering report that Pinnacle wants to review has not been fully completed and will be shared with the developer when it鈥檚 ready.
Kwok said Pinnacle built the same style of pool across the street, at Pinnacle Centre, and it has been operating for 20 years.
Kwok said it鈥檚 unfortunate the partnership with the city over the pool has been so fraught, because he believes that in future most public amenities are going to be provided through similar private sector arrangements, and this sets a bad tone.
鈥淚 feel like it got intense really quickly,鈥 said Kwok. 鈥淚 would love to clean the slate and start again.鈥
Local parent Pam Nash said there is a feeling in the community that the city doesn鈥檛 understand the urgent need for a pool.
鈥淒uring COVID parents got so behind on swimming lessons for their kids, which is a life-saving skill, and which I think are a necessity,鈥 Nash said.
The next closest public pool in the area, at the St. Lawrence Community Recreation Centre, was also for repairs that will last until at least October.
Nash blames the city and the developer for the problems at One Yonge.
鈥淲e鈥檙e stuck in the middle while they鈥檙e playing poker.鈥
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