Ravensong pool closures, the 2025 expansion vote and the renovation

A one-page notice from the Regional District of Nanaimo, dated July 30, 2026, set the calendar for the end of summer in Oceanside: Ravensong Aquatic Centre in Qualicum Beach would close to the public for annual maintenance from August 22 to September 13 and reopen on Monday, September 14. Anyone looking for a swim or a skate in the meantime was sent to the district's drop-in schedules page. The notice gave no other explanation. The district's alerts show the pool shutting for about three weeks at the same point of the summer in 2022, 2023 and 2025 as well.

The bigger closure is still ahead. In August 2026 the RDN confirmed a $13.5 million renovation of the building, expected to start in the fall of 2027, and it has not yet said how long Ravensong pool will be out of use while that work goes on.

The pool on Jones Street

Ravensong sits at 737 Jones Street. The RDN, which owns and operates it, describes two pools: a 25-metre lane pool kept at 29 C and a leisure pool at 34.5 C, with a hot tub, a steam room and a dry infrared sauna alongside. The water is treated with tablet chlorination, ultraviolet light and sand filtration, and the whole main pool is recirculated through the system once every six hours. There are four universal family change rooms, one women's and one men's.

The district dates the building to 1995. Its own background note goes further than most public bodies would about one of its facilities: Ravensong "remains the most used indoor recreation facility in Oceanside and has been unable to meet community demand since 2006," which the RDN says leaves users competing for oversubscribed pool time and limits what programs it can offer. The swimming lesson page makes the same point in practical terms, asking families to join a waitlist when a class is full and adding that classes will be added if staffing levels increase.

Ravensong is the only indoor pool in the Oceanside region, according to NanaimoNewsNOW's coverage of the 2025 vote. It is paid for through the District 69 Swimming Pool Local Service Area, which takes in the City of Parksville, the Town of Qualicum Beach and RDN Electoral Areas E, F, G and H. If you are coming by bus, the RDN notes that the centre is on the regional transit network, and Ravensong Exchange beside it is where Route 9 Intercity sets off through Parksville to Woodgrove in north Nanaimo.

Closing every August

The yearly shutdown is the closure most swimmers actually meet. The RDN's service alerts show the same pattern year after year: about three weeks in the second half of August and the first half of September, with the doors reopening on a Monday.

The alerts do not list what crews do during those weeks, only that the work is annual maintenance.

Not every closure has been planned. On January 27, 2022, the RDN closed Ravensong completely from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., saying staff shortages left it unable to run sessions while complying with the COVID-19 health protocols then in force under provincial health orders. The alert promised every effort to keep programs going and pointed patrons to a pandemic schedule page for further changes.

The expansion plan and the April 2025 vote

For more than a decade the RDN's answer to the crowding was to make the building bigger. An expansion study was done in 2009 and updated in 2013, and in July 2021 the district said it was moving to the next phase of design, adding a second pool and other amenities because more people were moving to the area every year.

By October 2024 the plan had a price. At meetings on October 8 and October 22, the RDN board voted to ask electors for permission to borrow up to $30 million toward a project with a Class B estimate of $36.4 million, the rest to come from capital reserves and operating funds. The design would add a four-lane, 25-metre pool, a second leisure pool, a lazy river and therapy water feature, two multipurpose rooms, a reconfigured lobby with a larger viewing area and more universal change rooms. If the borrowing passed, construction was to start in early 2026 and take 24 to 28 months. In March 2025 the district was also awarded a conditional $7 million federal grant, pledged on the strength of that full scope.

The referendum was held on Saturday, April 5, 2025, under Ravensong Aquatic Centre Loan Authorization Bylaw No. 1921, 2024. The official count was 2,877 votes in favour and 4,487 against, just under 61 per cent opposed. The RDN's results page gives the totals and nothing else. What the numbers settled was the borrowing, not the crowding.

From expansion to renovation

At the board meeting on April 22, 2025, the argument moved to what could be salvaged. An RDN staff report suggested shifting to work that did not involve the pools, such as changeroom renovations and two new multipurpose rooms. Tom Osborne, the district's general manager of recreation and parks, warned that the $7 million grant was not guaranteed to survive a change of scope. "A lot of inquiries still have to be made and another application essentially has to be submitted under another project for the Ravensong Aquatic Centre," he said.

Brian Wiese, the alternate director for Qualicum Beach, argued that losing the money would be a real shame "when the Ravensong pool is in a very much a dire need of this renovation." His motion, amended so that the Oceanside Services Committee rather than staff would discuss the scope, passed unanimously. NanaimoNewsNOW also reported that the referendum cost about $165,000 against a $240,000 budget, and that about $5.7 million in reserves was already set aside for the facility.

The result took another fifteen months. Staff took a revised scope to the Oceanside Services Committee on June 25, 2026, the RDN board approved it on July 14, and the district announced on August 14 that the renovation would go ahead. The federal money survived in the end, through the Government of Canada's Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program, which NanaimoNewsNOW reported covers up to 80 per cent of eligible costs to a maximum of $7 million. The remaining $6.5 million comes from the Ravensong capital reserve fund, and the RDN says the project carries no tax implications for residents.

What the $13.5 million buys

The renovation is mostly invisible work. According to the RDN, Ravensong is the district's largest consumer of energy and source of greenhouse gas emissions among its facilities, so the core of the project is heating, filtration, pumps and other building systems. The district estimates annual energy savings of 47.5 per cent, about $22,000 a year, and a cut in emissions of about 83.9 per cent compared with the existing building.

Swimmers will notice the deck. The plan replaces the existing pool deck tile and regrades the deck slopes so people can move around the pool more easily and safely, and it reworks the lobby and changerooms to reduce accessibility barriers, designed to the Canadian Standards Association's accessible design standard and the BC Building Code. What it does not do is add water. The RDN's own release says plainly that the approved scope "does not include the expansion needed for Ravensong Aquatic Centre to meet community demand."

Nanaimo's two indoor pools

When Ravensong shuts, the nearest indoor alternatives are the City of Nanaimo's. Beban Park Pool at 2300 Bowen Road has a leisure pool with spray features and a lazy river, a teach pool, an aquacise pool and a 25-metre length pool, with a water slide and diving boards; a city blog post dates the main pool to 1976. The Nanaimo Aquatic Centre at 741 Third Street opened in June 2001 and has a 50-metre pool with a moveable floor, which the city calls one of the busiest 50-metre pools on Vancouver Island, plus a wave pool and slides.

For anyone who wants a gym instead of a lane, the city runs two public weight rooms, one at the aquatic centre and one at Beban Pool, where the room overlooks the pool deck and has free weights and stationary equipment. The city's weight room page lists no prices or hours itself and refers to its drop-in schedule and admission rates instead.

Beban has had a long closure of its own. The pool shut on March 16, 2020, as the pandemic took hold. The leisure pool, sauna, hot tub and teaching pool reopened in the fall of 2021, but the 25-metre tank stayed closed until January 17, 2022, 22 months after it shut. NanaimoNewsNOW reported that a planned reopening slipped when an expansion joint formed in the main pool as it was being refilled, and that the closure allowed about $255,000 of upgrades, including new washroom tiling, LED lighting, water-efficient taps and fresh paint. While Beban was closed, the newsroom noted, extra swimmers had pressed on the aquatic centre.

The pool is one piece of a larger site. In May 2015 Nanaimo council unanimously adopted an update to the Beban Park master plan, a twenty-year visioning document for a park the city puts at just under 130 acres, replacing the first master plan from 1997. The city said implementation would depend on community partnerships and come in many phases. A year later, six community groups brought a concept for a central gathering and recreation hub to council, and Councillor Ian Thorpe said flexible spaces for many uses had been a priority of the plan. On the waterfront, Maffeo Sutton Park has a draft master plan of its own, and downtown the Vancouver Island Conference Centre, backed by 52 per cent of voters in 2004, still costs the city close to $1 million a year. Swimmers who prefer open water have the lakes of Colliery Dam Park.

Back in Qualicum Beach, the date that matters most is still blank. The RDN's August 14, 2026 release fixes the start of the renovation in the fall of 2027 and lists every system it will touch, but it gives no figure for how many weeks or months Oceanside's only indoor pool will be closed while the deck comes up.

Questions

When is Ravensong Aquatic Centre closed for maintenance?

It closes for about three weeks at the end of every summer. In 2026 the pool was shut from August 22 to September 13 and reopened on Monday, September 14; in 2025 the closure ran from August 16 to September 7.

Where can I swim when Ravensong is closed?

The Regional District of Nanaimo points swimmers to its drop-in schedule page during the shutdown, and the closest other indoor pools are in Nanaimo. The City of Nanaimo runs two: Beban Park Pool on Bowen Road and the Nanaimo Aquatic Centre on Third Street.

Who runs Ravensong Aquatic Centre?

The Regional District of Nanaimo owns and operates it. It is paid for through the District 69 Swimming Pool Local Service Area, which covers Parksville, Qualicum Beach and RDN Electoral Areas E, F, G and H.

What pools does Ravensong have?

A 25-metre lane pool and a leisure pool, plus a hot tub, a steam room and a dry infrared sauna. The RDN lists the main pool at 29 C and the leisure pool at 34.5 C.

Why did the Ravensong expansion referendum fail?

Voters rejected borrowing up to $30 million on April 5, 2025, by 4,487 votes to 2,877. Without that borrowing the larger plan stalled, and the RDN later scaled the project down to a renovation funded from reserves and a federal grant.

Will the Ravensong renovation raise property taxes?

The RDN says no. Its August 14, 2026 release states that the $13.5 million project is covered by a $7 million federal grant and $6.5 million from the Ravensong capital reserve fund, with no tax implications for residents.

When does the Ravensong renovation start, and will the pool close?

Work is expected to begin in the fall of 2027. As of the RDN's August 2026 release, the district had not published how long the facility would be closed during construction.

When did Ravensong open?

The RDN gives 1995 as the year Ravensong was built. The district also says the facility has been unable to meet community demand since 2006.

Is there a gym or weight room at the Nanaimo Aquatic Centre?

Yes. The City of Nanaimo runs two public weight rooms, one at the Nanaimo Aquatic Centre at 741 Third Street and one at Beban Pool at 2300 Bowen Road. The city's drop-in weight room schedule and admission rates list the hours and prices.

Why was Beban Park pool closed for so long?

It closed on March 16, 2020 as the pandemic began and its 25-metre tank did not reopen until January 17, 2022. NanaimoNewsNOW reported that a planned reopening was pushed back after an expansion joint formed in the main pool when water was added.

What is the Beban Park master plan?

It is a twenty-year visioning document for the park, adopted unanimously by Nanaimo council in May 2015. It updated the park's first master plan from 1997 and leaves most projects to be carried out in phases through community partnerships.

Sources

1. Ravensong Aquatic Centre Annual Maintenance Closure (service alert), Regional District of Nanaimo, 2026-07-30
2. Ravensong Aquatic Centre Annual Maintenance Closure (service alert), Regional District of Nanaimo, 2025-07-30
3. Ravensong Aquatic Centre Annual Maintenance Closure (service alert), Regional District of Nanaimo, 2023-08-04
4. Ravensong Aquatic Centre Annual Maintenance Closure (service alert), Regional District of Nanaimo, 2022-08-05
5. Ravensong Aquatic Centre Temporary Closure (recreation alert), Regional District of Nanaimo, 2022-01-27
6. Ravensong Aquatic Centre, Regional District of Nanaimo, 2026
7. RDN News Release: Ravensong Expansion Plan, Regional District of Nanaimo, 2021-07-15
8. Ravensong Aquatic Centre Expansion Update (news release), Regional District of Nanaimo, 2024-10-25
9. Ravensong Aquatic Centre Expansion Referendum, Regional District of Nanaimo
10. Ravensong Aquatic Centre Expansion Referendum: Results, Regional District of Nanaimo, 2025-04
11. Ravensong Aquatic Centre Renovation Project Update (news release), Regional District of Nanaimo, 2026-08-14
12. Voters reject Ravensong Aquatic Centre referendum, NanaimoNewsNOW, via 106.9 The Wolf, 2025-04-06
13. Potential scaled back Ravensong renovation to be discussed, NanaimoNewsNOW, via 106.9 The Wolf, 2025-04-23
14. Federal grant funding half of Ravensong Aquatic Centre upgrades, NanaimoNewsNOW, 2026-07-15
15. Energy consumption, accessibility priorities of Ravensong Aquatic Centre revamp, NanaimoNewsNOW, 2026-08-27
16. Splish-splash we're having a blast!, City of Nanaimo, 2019-02-14
17. Beban Park Pool, City of Nanaimo, 2026-07-20
18. Nanaimo Aquatic Centre: pool and rooms, City of Nanaimo, 2026-10-09
19. Gymnasiums and weight rooms, City of Nanaimo, 2026-05-27
20. Nanaimo's Beban Park pool reopens on Monday, Times Colonist, 2022-01-14
21. Beban Park Pool to re-open for first time since start of pandemic, NanaimoNewsNOW, 2022-01-13
22. Nanaimo's Beban Park swimming pool set to reopen to the public, CHEK News, 2022-01-17
23. Beban Park master plan update adopted by Council, City of Nanaimo, 2015-05-15
24. Public input sought on improvement concept in central Beban Park, City of Nanaimo, 2016-07-11