City identifies $4.1M operations funding gap for new $185M pool

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The City of Fort St. John is exploring options to solve an operations funding gap of approximately $4.1 million for its proposed $185 million new pool. 

The City of Fort St. John created its aquatic facility working group in September 2025 to take on the North Peace Leisure Pool replacement, after the Peace River Regional District (PRRD) announced it was stepping away from the project, leaving it solely in the city’s hands. 

During the March 23rd committee of the whole meeting, Kylah Bryde, the city’s director of community services, and Lucas Panoulias, the chief corporate services officer, detailed ‘class d’ plans for the city’s proposed new aquatic facility. 

‘Class d’ plans are high-level, preliminary and approximate costs pertaining to a project’s earliest stages, and are used to determine funding estimates and feasibility studies. 

The 2030 operating costs for the North Peace Leisure Pool and the Kids Arena Fieldhouse are $5.59 million. The estimated operating expenses for the facility in 2030 are $7.31 million, which, according to Panoulias, poses a problem for the city.  

The current pool’s operating expenses are covered by the North Peace Leisure Pool Service Area Bylaw, with the regional district picking up the tab.

If the regional district does not contribute to covering the new pool’s operating expenses, the city will only be able to cover $3.21 million of the $7.31 million in operating costs, leaving a $4.1 million funding gap. 

“City staff are already scheduled to meet with…regional district staff this week, to begin discussion on how regional support can continue for aquatics in the region,” Panoulias told the council. 

If the regional district does not contribute to covering the operating expenses of the facility, city staff have outlined several options for covering the $4.1 million gap:

• Increase residential property taxes by approximately $18 per month and commercial property taxes by $140.
• Work with the PRRD on a sub-regional recreation agreement to support all recreation, arts and culture amenities the City of Fort St. John provides for the region.
• Develop a two-tier fee system to support all recreation, arts and culture amenities available to regional residents and city residents alike. 

The decision regarding which option the city will go with will be determined by the outcome of talks with the district. 

The 14-acre facility’s high-level features include four separate bodies of water, a freestanding slide, cold plunge, sauna rooms and a full-sized indoor sports field for 11-v-11 football games. 

Artist renderings of the facility also included an outdoor, full-sized pitch for 11-v-11 football, but Bryde confirmed to the council that it was included only to “hold space,” and the pitch was considered ‘phase two’ of the project. 

Panoulias outlined three different funding scenarios, which would be consulted depending on the results of capital fundraising through governmental grant funding and private businesses, Peace River Agreement funds and city reserves.

A $60 to $90 million loan for the construction of the facility would be repaid over 30 years and increase residential property taxes by between $17.68 and 26.53 per month.

As ‘class d’ estimates are now completed, the city will advance the project to the tendering process, seeking bids from local and provincial contractors to submit project proposals and estimates for the city to compare and select. Panoulias explained staff anticipate awarding the project to a company “sometime in May.”

After the project has been assigned, a referendum will be held on October 17th, with city residents voting for or against borrowing funds to construct the facility. If the project is approved, the city plans to break ground in the spring of 2027.