Designs for new swimming pool at C2 open to public next Thursday

Town and M.D. residents will get their first glimpses into the design of a new swimming pool at the Centennial Centre next week.

The aquatics committee is hosting an open house at the C2’s registration night next Thursday from 4-8pm to show off what the feasibility study has concluded for the project.

“The committee itself everyone will remember will basically take a look at whether there was a need or not and if there is a need where would the best-suited location be. Thirdly on a conceptual basis, what would a facility start to look like?” said Mayor Gene Sobolewski on The Morning After.

In Nov. 2018, the Town and M.D. paid $30,000 each for a feasibility study.

Recreation surveys done by each municipality have shown that a pool is at the top of the resident’s wish list.

At the booth, committee members will be on hand to answer questions, diagrams of the designs will be shown, and there are rough cost estimates to build the pool.

“What we wanted to put across from the beginning, we have to recognize the size of the community we live in and live within our means,” said M.D. Reeve Greg Sawchuk.

“We are not a Fort Saskatchewan or St. Albert or Grande Prairie. We’re just not that big. We can’t have our expectations up here when our budget is down here. I think we met in the middle there.”

Bonnyville town council and M.D. council will use the feedback they received to make tough decisions about how to move forward.

“That’s when the real work starts to begin is – how do you manage to construct something like this? Where do the funds come from? How do you basically raise the funds?” said Sobolewski.

“With some of the uncertainty in the province in terms of grants and federal grants with the federal government, there will be some head-scratching going on.”

Reeve Sawchuk added: “That’s when you’ll start the see first indications if you see a line item in the budget that says let’s put a couple million dollars here to save for an aquatics centre, that will give you an indication it’s going forward.”