Commonwealth Community Recreation Centre — Attraction in Central Core

I have been very disappointed the last 3 time I have visited here (the pool side anyways this facility) but things have either been out of commission or don't work at all... For Example: My more recent last visit, the hot tub was not working, out of commission, pipe in basement broken. When I was paying at the front (and might I add there was 3 of them) the front staff should have at least let me know but nope, nothing... I at least then could have had the option of having the choice of not paying annnnd then finding out. I could have then gone to another establishment but that choice was taken from me, and really I was there at the front desk, I wasn't going to leave and go somewhere else anyways. Also I do frequent quite often the other pool facilities that are in the Edmonton area, and for paying the price, on the higher end I might add and do not have children so all those extra that Commonwealth offered doesn't really apply to me (great children's pool though, only reason for the 2 stars★★), but I would expect everything to be in well working order... This was definitely not the case. Again I say (because of this being the main reason why I went to the facility in the first place) the hot tub was not working, showers (2 of them) on the pool floor, ones handle was falling off continuously. Then back in the family locker room showers (6 showers)= 1 not working at all, another 1 having the same handle falling off issue that the pool floor shower had, and the most ridiculous problem of all the handcap shower (so on the end closest to the door and seating chair) that shower head was broken to the point of bearly any water was coming out and the hang up hook which you put the shower head on was completely broken to the point where it didn't work you could not put the shower head back on the proper spot, so it just hung there... I just extremely disappointed. If I wasn't visiting this place with a girlfriend of mine and her small child I would have been in n even more frustrated. I tried to make the best of the situation and enjoyed myself when I was there but I definitely will not be coming back anytime soon... also will be telling friends and family about this experience so they can at least have the choice of not visiting until things...

Ah the Grand Commonwealth Stadium...Edmonton's Soviet style answer to a communal weekend getaway. Yes, this grand establishment, flaunting its "great amenities for the whole family" like a painted junkie beckoning "family fun" from a doorway. Amenities, they say. As if the true amenity isn't the raw, unadulterated spectacle of man's surrender to his baser instincts. Because while the gym equipment might gleam and the swimming pool water shimmer, the real story, my friend, is in the patrons. These glorious creatures, these paragons of the modern age, leave much to be desired, certainly. But what they do leave, well, that's where the poetry begins. Step into the family change rooms, if you dare. A veritable olfactory symphony, where the dominant note is the sharp, acrid lament of stale urine. It clings to the air, a spiritual essence, a testament to the primal urge that, apparently, cannot be contained by mere porcelain and privacy. And then, the management, in their infinite wisdom, responds not with a cleansing fire, but with a shrug. You would think a sign saying "Do not Urinate in the change rooms, Do not Defecate in the pool" would suffice in this grand establishment. But no, as if humanity, having scaled the dizzying heights of civilization, would be enough to illuminate prompters to distinguish between a lavatory and a leisure facility. It's magnificent in its absurdity, a testament to the fact that we've outgrown the simple act of shtting in a hole, only to rediscover it with renewed vigor in chlorinated water. And when I dared to offer this profound observation to the staff, those diligent custodians of this aqueous inferno? They met my gaze with a shrug, an almost divine ambivalence. As if the stench of despair and the occasional floating turd were merely the background hum of existence, a regular Tuesday. A truly profound moment, this. For in their vacant eyes, I saw not disinterest, but the quiet resignation of those who have gazed too long into the abyss and found it to be merely a slightly off-color swimming pool. It’s the grand, unspoken truth: we are all, ultimately, just pssing in the communal bucket, and some of us are just a bit...

Most UNPROFESSIONAL LIFEGUARD! HANDLED THE SITUATION VERY POORLY. Went for a swim, all the lanes were occupied, i chose the 2nd lane, sharing with another guy, then i found out the woman from the 1st lane out of the pool, so i change lane to the 1st one. When i was swimming towards the end of the lane, suddenly the woman came back to the pool staring filmed herself swimming, completely took control the lane that i was in, ignored the surrounding, couldn't careless that she is in public pool, i stopped swimming before the end of the lane and swim back to the other lane. Meanwhile she is still busy filming herself swimming back and forth at the only at the shallow end, completely took control the lane. So i swim towards her end, expecting her to notice me, but she couldn't care less. So i stopped and say "excuse me" 3 times cause she kept ignoring me. Then the guy in the 2nd lane called the LIFEGUARD, told him her unacceptable behavior, then this LIFEGUARD approached me and i told him what happened. He told me that I AM RIGHT and she is wrong. BUT instead told her that she shouldn't do that, this LIFEGUARD kept lectures me about what when on and asked me to move to another lane, while told me that I AM RIGHT multiple times. I told him that if i am right , why i m the one who should move? Then i said i just want to swim and I started to swim away from this LIFEGUARD, but he kept calling me to talk to him and THREATENED ME if i don't want to talk i will be in trouble. I said if i m right like he told me many times why i am in trouble?? He said because he is the LIFEGUARD and i should listen to him. I told him that i will not listen to him if he is WRONG. Overall, THIS LIFEGUARD HANDLED the situation VERY POORLY. Then after done swimming, i went to steam room, the woman who filmed herself in the swimming pool was in the there, she saw me entering the steam room, she got up and spit on the floor and left...