Editor:
Gosh there’s been a lot of talk down at the pool lately about Elevation Place.
People are not embracing the elevated prices and elevated customer service. We have grown to love the existing facility and its front end staff and lifeguards. In fact rather than, “improving,” on their customer service, the recreation staff could be, “teaching,” it to both the public and private sectors.
Nevertheless our recreation staff are undergoing customer service skill improvement. No longer do you stand at the counter and buy a pass, now, you are shown to a private room and given the spiel about the new facility and how wonderful it will be; I am not a guest at a high end spa, I am a community member going to the pool.
Now the seniors rate begins at 65 and not 55; that’s no small affront to those over 55… and the drop-in price for the pool is going to be $12 or $15 (that’s triple what it is now). For those living from paycheque to paycheque, buying a pass (in order to benefit from the reduced rate) isn’t an option because they do not carry a bank balance; that’s what living paycheque to paycheque means. This means they have to pay the elevated drop-in prices, (like on pay day when they can afford it)… so they really get nailed.
I have to wonder about our homeless population and our working tenters… are they going to have to pay triple the current shower cost, or the new drop-in rate? That’s more than they earn in an hour or have in their pocket. Will there still be free computer access at the public library? There are people without computer access or money, who need to communicate with their families and friends and work opportunities; will they be excluded from this, now basic human right?
Here’s the thing: we now have an exclusive multiplex, meant to be world class, but falls short of that standard, by about five feet (such is the buzz), which nevertheless should be accessible to everyone in the public.
There is beauty in simplicity and there is integrity in not going beyond your means. I think this speaks to both the sustainability and diversity factors inherent in global/communal consciousness. Elevation Place is striking in its architectural design, but it is beyond what this community can afford, and that zaps life force… not to mention energy (hardly makes sense to recycle your cans).
Ask anyone who has gotten in over their head on a mortgage; ask the most heavily taxed population if it’s worth it. For sure the exorbitant cost of building and operating this structure will alienate the no income, lower income, and some of the middle income people of Canmore, yet we all have to manoeuvre around it like the chair that’s too big for the living room.
Anyway, in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I would like to acknowledge and heartfully thank (and forgive spelling mistakes): Audrey, Joan, Leslie, Murielle, Christine, Oreana, Amy, Lindsey, Alan, Ryan, Daisy, Dianne, Kim, Cory, Claire and Alie… and anyone who I may be missing, especially you too, you have been professional and genuinely friendly, and this has sometimes turned a bad day right around.
You know, swimming for me is going to become something I do on special occasions only, because I can’t afford the new pool. I don’t know what I am going to miss more, my swim or you.
T. Jansen,
Canmore
