While the opportunity still theoretically exists to build a pool with 50-metre-long lanes, city council made the “difficult decision” at the “11th hour” to pursue federal funding for a smaller, cheaper, more attractive venue.
During its May 9 regular meeting, council voted 5-1 to support the parks and recreation (P&R) department’s application for a federal Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) grant for the Phyllis Dewar Outdoor Pool replacement project, expected to cost $8,910,331.
The deadline to apply was May 10.
Funding is expected to be $6,533,946 from the ICIP grant and $2,376,385 from the city. Municipal funding includes $118,819 from the 2023 parks and rec capital budget, $1,069,373 from the 2024 P&R capital budget and $1,188,193 from the 2025 P&R capital budget.
Coun. Kim Robinson was opposed, while Coun. Crystal Froese was absent.
The current outdoor pool has 50-metre lanes, but the proposed new pool would have 25-metre lanes. City administration noted that building a bigger pool would cost an extra $2.5 million and eliminate some new features.
The Moose Jaw Flying Fins swim club spoke to council earlier in the meeting and explained how 50-metre lanes would keep the club competitive.
Council discussion
“We’ve left this (application submission) to the 11th hour. Why did we not have two grant applications prepared?” said Robinson. “The chance of us building a 50-metre (pool) is very, very low because we are applying for funding for 25 metres, and then we have to put in an extra $2.5 million ourselves.
“I’m thinking that will be a no-go.”
Robinson added that the Flying Fins’ presentation was wasted time since the decision to build a smaller pool had been made last November. He thought eliminating the last outdoor Olympic-sized pool in Saskatchewan was wrong and showed how “notoriously average” council was.
Since he was a kid, Mayor Clive Tolley has regularly visited the outdoor pool and noted that the venue has been a big part of Moose Jaw for decades. He didn’t want to lose the Flying Fins’ annual swim meet but didn’t think council could justify spending more money to build bigger lanes to support a once-a-year event.
“I want the next generation to go off the tower (as well),” Tolley stated. However, the replacement plan report shows the city can generate more revenues with a smaller tank, a leisure pool, and a waterslide.
“We’re making a decision here; it’s a tough decision. … but the world’s changed, and the customer is different, and we’re attracting tourists to our city and all kinds of people that don’t even swim and want to go to this pool complex in the summer,” he said.
Tolley then wondered whether the new pool would retain the diving tower, have the same depth, and what races the swim club could continue to hold.
In response, parks and recreation director Derek Blais said the pool’s depth would increase to three metres from one metre with higher diving boards, reducing utility savings. Furthermore, the swim club could host short-course meets but not the traditional long-course meet.
Coun. Doug Blanc was “kind of torn,” saying while he understood building 50-metre lanes would cost more, he didn’t want to have future regrets about not constructing a “bigger and better” pool.
He didn’t want to lose the proposed leisure pool — which would be eliminated with bigger lanes — and didn’t want to lose the swim club’s annual meet either. However, he acknowledged that a waterslide is attractive to families.
Coun. Heather Eby was excited that the application was going in quickly, wasn’t in favour of changing the application so close to the deadline and thought council could further discuss the pool’s size when federal funding arrived.
“Then we can dive in from there … (and make the) difficult decision,” she said.
Eby then asked why council didn’t see this report and application weeks ago.
This report wasn’t presented during the April 25 meeting, Blais replied, because the department received the conceptual design and budget estimates at the end of April after that meeting.
The next regular council meeting is Tuesday, May 24.
