Construction contract awarded for Aquatics facility expansion in High River

The expansion of the aquatics facility in High River took another big step earlier this week. 

During a regular meeting of Council, the Mayor and councillors voted to award the construction contract for the project to Chandos Construction LP worth just over $22 million. 

The project contract is being split into three elements with nearly $16 million for the new pool, waterslide, and mechanical systems, $3.9 million for the existing lap pool and renovations, and $2.4 million for improvements to the lobby and Zamboni area. 

“This is a huge investment for our community. We need an enhanced facility in High River,” said Mayor Craig Snodgrass. “This expansion is the right size to meet community needs, and it is the right time to move this forward. With this decision, we are moving from vision to reality, and a facility for all to enjoy for decades to come.”   

The project contract comes after more than two years of planning, design work and community feedback. 

Snodgrass said that council put a great deal of thought into the decision to award the contract following five bids. He referenced the Field House project as an example of why the aquatics expansion is necessary. 

“They (council) made a bold decision then and it’s been a great addition to our community,” he said. 

“For decades we have been stuck in extremely expensive dreams of massive new rec facilities that would be nothing more than reckless. This council has made a bold decision with this aquatics expansion to our existing facility. It is a responsible decision using available grant funding and borrowing capacity and creates a rec facility we can be very proud of.”   

Currently, the total costs for the project including contingency funds sit at $26,793,922. Just over $11 million of that is coming from provincial grants, with over $387,000 being used from the town’s aquatics reserve fund. 

The balance of about $13.6 million will be borrowed. 

Snodgrass acknowledged that this will likely lead to a tax increase for residents but said it should only be roughly $17 more per month. 

“There’s a tax increase whenever you do anything in this environment,” he said. “We absolutely have to look at our operational expenses and user fees. We also have to look at, especially with the aquatics facility, that users outside of High River can absolutely pay a higher fee to access the facility. My family does it when we use the Seton facility (YMCA) in Calgary.” 

The aquatics expansion project is expected to finish in early 2026.