Vancouver Aquatic Centre closed after section of building crashes to the ground

Section of Vancouver Aquatic Centre crashes down The public is being told to stay away from the Vancouver Aquatic Centre after a chunk of the building came crashing to the ground.

The Vancouver Aquatic Centre has been temporarily closed after a piece of the building came crashing to the ground Tuesday night.

The section somehow came loose near the facility's Beach Avenue entrance, which has been cordoned off with caution tape as crews assess the safety of the building.

On Wednesday, the Vancouver Park Board confirmed the Aquatic Centre would remain closed until Thursday at the earliest out of "an abundance of caution."

"We apologize for this inconvenience and thank you for your understanding," the board said in a statement.

People have been stopping by the facility Wednesday to check out the damage for themselves.

"It's just old. The scary part is that it's not maintained, they should have recognized that," said Courtney Christopher. "Imagine if that was on the 10th floor somewhere; it's fortunate no one got hurt."

The Aquatic Centre initially reopened Wednesday morning in spite of the damage, with visitors told to enter through the side door beside the parking lot.

Park board commissioner Tricia Barker posted on Twitter that she visited the scene and heard from a number of residents who were sad to see the public pool shut down.

"This facility is a treasure and at times, a life saver for so many that live in Vancouver," she wrote.

The Vancouver Aquatic Centre was built in 1974, replacing the city's Crystal Pool, and there have been discussions about replacing the aging facility for years.

Barker told CTV News the centre had been on the park board's radar, along with several other community centres that needed to be replaced or repaired, but the pandemic slowed that down.