THUNDER BAY – The future of the former Dease Pool site is set to be decided Monday by Thunder Bay’s city council, which will hear a recommendation to build a public plaza and skateboard park on the lot.
The decision will bring an end to years of debate over the site, which sits just across the street from Dease Park in the city’s south end.
If approved by council on Monday, the recommendation from city administration would launch detailed design work for the plaza and skate park, in consultation with the Thunder Bay Skateboard Coalition and the broader community.
The design will include “commemoration of the cultural history of Dease Pool,” according to the city.
Council voted to demolish the century-old facility in 2019 a year after it was closed, infuriating area residents who had launched a sustained advocacy campaign to preserve it.
The city ultimately balked at the $2.8 million price tag to rebuild the pool, especially given the presence of the Art Widnall outdoor pool just a kilometre away. The pool was demolished in 2020.
On Monday, council will receive the results of public consultation on the future of the site, which consisted of an online survey, on-site open house, and consultations with students from nearby McKellar Park School.
The recommendation council will debate Monday would have several implications, aside from approving the skate park.
It would also set aside money for the first phase of a redevelopment of Dease Park itself, which was approved by city council earlier this year.
Those improvements, scheduled for 2022, include the addition of a basketball court that will convert into a boarded ice rink, an expanded playground, and new walkways.
The recommendation would also approve “traffic calming pilot studies” for next summer, which will help inform a decision on whether to close the section of Dease Street that connects the park and former pool. A recommendation on that issue would come back to council in the fourth quarter of 2022.
