MONTREAL -- This summer, swimmers will get to experience a brighter and more acoustic Memorial Pool at McGill University. This is the second major facelift for the 70-year-old venue -- which was completely redesigned in 1994 -- and has been closed for most of the spring for a major overhaul. It has now been officially re-opened to the public.
The focus of the work was on lightning, painting and acoustics.
"The bulk of it was to replace the existing lighting with new, competition-grade energy efficient lighting," said
Angelo Battista, assistant manager, at the McGill Athletics and Recreation facilities office, which emphasized sustainability as work was done.
"We went from 250 to 300 to 750 lumen," he said of the lighting improvements. "That makes the environment that much nicer and brighter. In order to do that, we had to rewire the whole place. Also, the colour scheme is completely different."
Now, students and members of the public get to experience it first-hand.
"We are thrilled to have our pool back and we couldn't be happier with the results," said
Peter Carpenter, head coach of the McGill's varsity swimming teams. "The new red and white paint design, along with the new ceiling and lighting, makes for an incredible environment to train and compete in."
Members of the public can purchase a membership or pass and check out the new-and-improved Memorial Pool from 11:50 a.m. - 12:40 p.m. on weekdays and from 10:45 a.m. - 5 p.m. on weekends through the end of August.
