The city's brand new aquatic centre finally has an opening date.

Grant White, the city's director of community services, confirmed that May 5 will be the first official day of business during a governance and priorities committee meeting at city hall on Monday.

The centre has a 25-metre competitive lane pool, a therapy pool for people with mobility issues, a water slide and a lazy river.

The Ruth Inch Memorial Pool closed for good on April 13 after several goodbye swims and will likely be repurposed, though the city isn't yet sure for what. The city has confirmed that it's in good enough condition to be repurposed into something else.

Staff who worked at the old pool will be transferred to the new aquatic centre and once the building opens, there will be eight full-time maintenance staff, two full-time customer service and booking clerks and casual staff along with the lifeguards that will be working there.

Construction on the centre began in May 2022 and has a price tag of around $71 million. A referendum in 2021 saw residents approve of the city borrowing up to $10 million to help build it. The city also received a grant from the federal government totalling nearly $13 million.

The centre was originally slated to open for business in September 2024, but the evacuation of the city in 2023 forced the city to push back the opening.