THUNDER BAY - The closure of Dease Pool will go forward after city council voted to ratify the decision made last week to decommission the facility, despite several deputations urging council to allow for public consultation before finalizing the pool’s fate.
“I cannot understand how they decided to close something that important to that area without any consultation,” said Kateri Banning.
Banning, who grew up in the area and recalls spending every day in the summer at the pool, was one of several deputations made to city council during Monday night’s meeting.
Last week, city council voted in favour of closing the 106-year-old facility by a vote of 11 to 1. According to Kelly Robertson, general manager of community services,the facility no longer meets current standards and would cost an estimated $1 million to repair the pool basin.
A new pool would cost $1.3 million, with a total price tag of $2.8 million with the inclusion of new change rooms.
On Monday, Current River councilor, Andrew Foulds, who was the only one to vote to keep the pool open, put forward a motion to defer the ratification of the decision to the Jan. 14 meeting. Five councilors voted to defer, while five voted to proceed with the closure. Because of a tie, the motion to defer was defeated.
Ray Smith, one of the debutants, said there are hundreds of youth in the area that utilize the pool on a daily basis in the summer.
“This is a second home for kids who play and swim in the summer,” he said. “It’s not only a meeting place. The ability to learn to swim is essential. These kids can’t afford a membership to the Canada Games Complex and don’t have camps to go to.”
As part of the decision to close the pool, council agreed to reallocate the $52,000 of the pool’s annual operating budget toward other youth programming in the neighbourhood.
Banning agreed that the Dease Pool is in need of repair, but she doesn’t believe alternative youth programming will fill the void left when the pool closes.
“Being a 15-year-old you’re not going to go and hang out with adults in this supposed new youth programming that they are claiming they are going to commence with Dease Pool closing,” she said. “To take away an important amenity for the youth would be detrimental.”
Ron Chookomolin said his deputation to council was to speak on behalf of the Indigenous youth, including many youth in the city from remote northern communities, who utilize the pool.
“When they go swimming, they meet other First Nation children from other communities,” he said. “They all talk. Some talk in their own language. Nobody knows this. But I do. I see this.”
Chookomolin added that many of these youth face struggles and hardships and the Dease Pool is somewhere they go every summer.
“They don’t know what’s going on and I don’t think they grasp what is happening before Christmas,” he said. “I ask council to put this over and have some community input, some consultation. Let’s hear from the neighbours.”
The possible closure of the pool has been up for debate as far back as the 1970s, with previous reports recommending the pool be shut down by 2016.
Robertson was asked if the pool is simply at the end of its life or if was the victim of poor maintenance.
“I would suggest its definitely end of life,” she said. “There are other issues with the facility from my perspective. One of my biggest concerns of the existing pool is it is not heated and secondly, there is no gradual entry to the pool for a novice swimmer.”
But Banning disagrees and questions how city staff determined the cost of repairing the pool.
“Council dropped the ball,” she said. “They have been told for 40 years that repairs needed to be made.”
One of the major issues raised during deputations was a lack of consultation with the community before the decision was made.
Two community meetings have already been planned and despite the decision being ratified, Banning said those meetings will still go forward and that this is not the last time the issue of Dease Pool’s future will be heard.
“I would like the community and the public an opportunity to review everything and come together and have a discussion about the future of this pool,” she said.
A meeting is planned for Wednesday Dec. 19 at the Hub Bazaar from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and a second meeting will be held on Jan. 3 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Mary J. L. Black Library.
