Provincial Awards

H2O
City of Kelowna

Building a brand new 101,000 sq ft facility with cutting edge environmental and sustainability elements is challenging enough but doing it during the height of a construction boom that turns your budget into a moving target leads to a case of mission impossible. From this real life scenario, the City of Kelowna created and developed the H2O Adventure and Fitness Centre, the largest municipally owned Water Park in Canada. Despite escalating construction costs the project was delivered on time and within its amended, publically approved, budget. Through an innovative partnership arrangement the project took only 4 years from conception to completion.

Public participation was extensive. During the planning and design process, the public was engaged through public surveys, open houses, displays in the mall and other public facilities, media packages, and numerous public reports to Council.

The facility features a 50-meter 8-lane FINA approved competition pool, and a leisure indoor water park that includes a river run, wave pool, 3 water slides, children’s water play area, and an ocean wave surf simulator. For the fitness enthusiast there is a 12,000 square foot cardio and weight equipment and exercise space.

H2O heralds several firsts: the first Flow Rider (an ocean wave surf simulator for the boogie boarder) in Canada; the first Wapotec tertiary aquatic water treatment system in BC; the first Technogym Kinesis Wall fitness centre in the Okanagan Valley; and, it is believed, the largest above ground pool in North America.

The facility sets a new benchmark for water quality measures and environmentally sound practices. It operates at 40% of the energy required to run a similar-sized conventional facility. This provides a savings of about $400,000 a year and a GHG emission reduction of 850 tonnes annually; equivalent to retiring about 200 average cars. Six independent water treatment systems provide high-quality water for each of the pools. Fortis BC honoured the facility with an award of excellence and innovation in energy and a $30,000 rebate in October 2009.

Although a city-owned facility, the H2O is operated by the YM-YWCA of the Central Okanagan and under its direction has already proved its economic viability and exceeded revenue projections in the first year of operation. Regardless of age, gender, background, abilities or financial circumstances the facility is open to everyone. The building and pools are fully accessible to the disabled and three public bus bays were built to serve as a bus exchange in front of the facility.

The H2O Adventure and Fitness Centre has set a new precedent in facility construction and sustainability and the BCRPA is pleased to present the City of Kelowna with a Facility Excellence Award.