50' Indoor Pool - What's Your Best Management Strategies

[Diver0001]

I'm curious—what would your ideal scuba diving pool look like?

I hope this doesn't derail the OP's thread.

Off the top of my head....

I'd like it to be dimensioned to suit standards. It would have to be a minimum of 25 metres long, 12.5 meters broad with a maximum depth of about 6 metres, a minimum depth of about 120-150cm. The shallowest part should be controllable with an adjustable bottom so that the minimum depth can be adjustable to suit average lengths of students from 10 years old and up (regardless of the discussion of whether or not kids that age should be trained). About 1/2 of the pool should deepen in 1 metre terraces down from minimum depth to about 3 metres and then slope sharply down to a trench at 6 meters.

There should be anchors on the bottom that can be used to attach things like buoyancy diamonds and buoys at about 2 metres, 3 metres, 6 metres. Two anchors (left and right from the middle) should be installed at each of those depths.

Along the sides of the pool there should be some way for students to hang or stand on the side of the pool (there are moments.... there are moments) and the edge of the pool on the deepest part should be about 1 metre above the water level. Along the entire back of the pool a highly reflective mirror should be installed so the divers can see themselves. Ladders with broad steps on both ends and both sides.

That's just a quick sketch of what I would personally find useful. I'm sure if I thought about it more I would want to add to that.

R..

 

[chillyinCanada]

We have a tank here that is approx 6 metres deep. While that is nice would very much preferred 15+.

 

[nimoh]

I hope this doesn't derail the OP's thread.

Off the top of my head....

I'd like it to be dimensioned to suit standards. It would have to be a minimum of 25 metres long, 12.5 meters broad with a maximum depth of about 6 metres, a minimum depth of about 120-150cm. The shallowest part should be controllable with an adjustable bottom so that the minimum depth can be adjustable to suit average lengths of students from 10 years old and up (regardless of the discussion of whether or not kids that age should be trained). About 1/2 of the pool should deepen in 1 metre terraces down from minimum depth to about 3 metres and then slope sharply down to a trench at 6 meters.

There should be anchors on the bottom that can be used to attach things like buoyancy diamonds and buoys at about 2 metres, 3 metres, 6 metres. Two anchors (left and right from the middle) should be installed at each of those depths.

Along the sides of the pool there should be some way for students to hang or stand on the side of the pool (there are moments.... there are moments) and the edge of the pool on the deepest part should be about 1 metre above the water level. Along the entire back of the pool a highly reflective mirror should be installed so the divers can see themselves. Ladders with broad steps on both ends and both sides.

That's just a quick sketch of what I would personally find useful. I'm sure if I thought about it more I would want to add to that.

R..

I love the mirror idea

 

[Mimal]

Any diver who lives close to Montreal loves this place. Good basic training, 50ft depth, safe for new divers and fairly cheap to dive ($10 to dive plus another $10 for parking). Parking is a hassle and so is reservations. Its a challenge to get good visibility in lakes around here and the sea is too far so this is the next best thing when looking for visibility. We just need a few tropical fish and bingo... Seriously guys, there is no way that we will be able to compete financially with 30,000 kids visiting this place annually. The answer lies in finding a special diving niche for this place. We need a mission that will give the owner (gov't) something to hold on to, despite the costs.

 

[Diver0001]

We need a mission that will give the owner (gov't) something to hold on to, despite the costs.

With all due respect, that does seem a little naive to me.

As noted above, the pool would need major modifications to make it suitable for training beginners so without that option you're stuck with renting pool time to certified divers and those who are interested in more advanced training.... and frankly, I'm not feeling a positive business case here that can even get you on the same planet as the 30,000 operational hours I'm assuming they're looking for.

Governments are less and less willing to invest in money-pits for niche groups (especially niche groups with no political clout) so unless it has a bigger purpose that translate into social/societal/cultural benefits that play off in the bigger picture or something, possibly related to some kind of scientific research, that could have some degree of self-liquidating value down the road then I don't see how anyone could offer a compelling reason to just keep going like it was.

I don't want to insult anyone, but the ideas being offered here completely ignore the fact that the basic math at work here has nothing to do with how cool the things are that happen in the pool. The owners will be staring, possibly obsessively, at the equation "#people x #hours x #dollars". Without addressing how to increase the usage and/or income, whatever you tell them you want to do in the time you have is going to sound to them like "blah blah blah - we're still losing money".

Trust me on that. If their costs are too out of whack then anything you say that doesn't address that point is going to have the same effect as pissing on a forest fire.

So in order to save your pool you're going to have to show them a plan whereby more divers use the pool, they pay more for their time or the pool stays open longer for the same costs.

If it were me, I'd already be talking to them about being involved in the functional design of whatever it is they're steering on. I know it's hard to let go of something cool but sometimes the best strategy is to make sure you don't get screwed completely by what they replace it with. Take an "all of the above" approach if you must but don't forget that getting in bed with them is also an option.

Just saying.

R..

 

[Mimal]

I may seem a little naive but I believe that you need to understand the context a little better. Right now there is quite a lot of basic PADI training that has been going on at the pool, even if the pool doesn't offer perfect dimensions for basic training. As far as local divers are concerned, there is no need for any transformation. Divers are quite happy with the status-quo. I believe that the gov't is planning on transforming the pool to allow for olympic style diving, and thus give the pool a whole different vocation. From a pure business sense, you're right in that the math will never add up when we are competing against 30,000 kids annually. There are however many examples in our society where the math doesn't add up financially, and sometimes it is for a higher reason, despite the additional cost. That is exactly what we divers are trying to find out. If there is a higher reason, then lets find it, communicate it, defend it... If there isn't, then lets accept the reality as it is - a vocation that will be appreciated by more people.

 

[nimoh]

I may seem a little naive but I believe that you need to understand the context a little better. Right now there is quite a lot of basic PADI training that has been going on at the pool, even if the pool doesn't offer perfect dimensions for basic training. As far as local divers are concerned, there is no need for any transformation. Divers are quite happy with the status-quo. I believe that the gov't is planning on transforming the pool to allow for olympic style diving, and thus give the pool a whole different vocation. From a pure business sense, you're right in that the math will never add up when we are competing against 30,000 kids annually. There are however many examples in our society where the math doesn't add up financially, and sometimes it is for a higher reason, despite the additional cost. That is exactly what we divers are trying to find out. If there is a higher reason, then lets find it, communicate it, defend it... If there isn't, then lets accept the reality as it is - a vocation that will be appreciated by more people.

As Diver0001 alluded to, Olympic diving is a niche group with political clout. It seems to me that sharing the pool with a group like this is mutually beneficial. Am I missing something?

 

[Oldbear]

I may seem a little naive but I believe that you need to understand the context a little better. Right now there is quite a lot of basic PADI training that has been going on at the pool, even if the pool doesn't offer perfect dimensions for basic training. As far as local divers are concerned, there is no need for any transformation. Divers are quite happy with the status-quo. I believe that the gov't is planning on transforming the pool to allow for olympic style diving, and thus give the pool a whole different vocation. From a pure business sense, you're right in that the math will never add up when we are competing against 30,000 kids annually. There are however many examples in our society where the math doesn't add up financially, and sometimes it is for a higher reason, despite the additional cost. That is exactly what we divers are trying to find out. If there is a higher reason, then lets find it, communicate it, defend it... If there isn't, then lets accept the reality as it is - a vocation that will be appreciated by more people.

This venue is truly unique and would be a great lost if the Gov't changed the pool. So I have now learned that the pool might be converted to accommodate ≈30k children. That is a lot of competition, but it is not surmountable.
Just brainstorming so take this for what it is worth...just an idea.

Find out how much the Gov't is going to budget for pool renovations and use that as a baseline budget. The diving community finds a different location (it has been mentioned that this pool might not have the best parking) to build a new pool. Help raise any difference in funds from the baseline to the new construction. Then offer scuba training in the form of Discovery Scuba and Snorkel courses to the kids. This way the 30k kids get their pool with access to the diving world and the divers keep their pool too.

As a selling point to the Gov't, more users within the public can get the benefit of swimming and diving.

Goodluck...Bonne Chance!

~Oldbear~

 

[oreocookie]

My 2 cents on this is that the pool needs to be promoted more, and the chances for people to actually dive there need to be increased. I've dove there twice, and both times, I reserved a spot through the LDS when they rented out the pool for an hour. That was the only way I could go, because trying to reserve a spot through the pool directly was a nightmare. I remember my buddy calling once, being told reservations open X day at 8:00 am, or something like that. She called back at probably around 8:30 on day X and was told it was full already. On one of those calls, they immediately hung up on her after telling her the info. If memory serves, they only had something like 4 open diving sessions a week. They have/had a dive club/school there running courses, but most likely the pool is empty at all other times. Their price wasn't absurd, especially if you don't have your own gear (~$30 including rentals).

 

[Mimal]

for anyone interested in helping us save the olympic bassin scuba diving pool, please sign the following petition: Impliquez-vous | sauvonslebassin.com.