The historic Natatorium has been sitting in disrepair for about 25 years and efforts continue to save the building.

During last week’s city council, concerned citizen Michel Labonte addressed council with ideas on how to save the Natatorium and the YMCA building.

The Natatorium was built in 1932, with its last major renovation in 1967.

Coun. Brian Swanson said it was good to be reminded that the Natatorium continues to sit unused with no plans for it.

“We refer to the new pool, the Kinsmen Pool, when it actually opened in 1995, 25 years ago,” Swanson said.

“The Natatorium has sat for 25 years and in a community the espouses heritage as one of its main features, it's a telling sign that the Natatorium just sits there year after year after year."

The last study done on the building was in 2016 to see how much it would cost to cap the indoor pool to become floor space and completely renovate the building.

According to the study, it would cost $6.5 million to completely renovate the Natatorium, not including separate change rooms, staff rooms and mechanical rooms for the outdoor pool.

About $3.9 million of the $6.5 million is to just get the building back up to code.

Mayor Fraser Tolmie says Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Natatorium has been put out in the past to no success. He added RFPs can sometimes come down to timing.

"There were no successful RFPs at that time," Tolmie said. "Now that doesn't say there's not another opportunity to do it now."

Tolmie is optimistic that the city can save the historic building from the wrecking ball.

"There is always opportunity and, again, hopefully, something good would happen in that area because it is a historic building. It's a beautiful building," he said.