THUNDER BAY - A public consultation to gather input on the future of the Dease Pool and Park site was greeted by protesters committed to keeping the century-old pool in the ground and serving the community.
“It’s more than a pool,” said Lori Paras, an advocate for the Rebuild Dease Pool Committee. “It’s more than water and concrete. It’s dignity. This neighbourhood deserves it.”
Public consultations sessions were held on Thursday at Victoriaville and again on Saturday inside the Fort William Gardens to gather public input on the future of the Dease Pool and Park site.
During the session on Saturday, several dozen protestors advocating to save Dease Pool gathered outside the Fort William Gardens holding signs calling on the city to reverse its decision to shut down the facility.
“It seems like city council is not listening to their people, the people in this city,” Paras said. “They have their own agenda and they are going to drive it through no matter what. But Thunder Bay is a tough town. They see things through. We will see this through.”
Late last year, Thunder Bay city council voted to close the pool that was built in 1912, making it the oldest in-ground pool in the country.
A new draft plan for the site unveiled last month includes replacing the pool basin and adding tennis and pickleball courts, which is something advocates wanting to keep the pool say makes little sense when it comes to youth in the area.
Coun. Aldo Ruberto, who has expressed support for saving the pool, said during the first public consultation on Thursday many people were confused by how those kinds of facilities would appeal to the youth in the neighbourhood.
“They are kind of caught off guard and quite frankly caught me off guard too,” he said.
Ruberto added that he is opposed to certain ideas when it comes to the future of the site, but what he would like to see are more ideas presented to council and the public.
“Maybe a skateboard park, a splash pad, but I would also like to see the option of revamped pool, heated, maybe a smaller version,” he said. “Give people a chance to speak on it, on a revamped model, give council a chance to vote on something that is another option that was presented at the original meeting. I think that’s fair and I think that’s what people want.”
Kateri Banning, who grew up in the area and spent many of her summer days at the pool, developed a plan that could see a new pool built inside the existing area and modifications to the change rooms and a heater added. The cost would be between $750,000 and $850,000.
“It was proven to be feasible, so I don’t know why they are not looking into it further, seeing as how they had $300,000 earmarked for the demolition,” she said. “So we are almost halfway there. And we’ve had multiple people from the community offer labour, funding, materials to save the pool.”
“Unless you live in the community you don’t really understand how important it is and how much it was used,” Banning continued. “It’s been recognized by the heritage committee as a hub of the community. I grew up here and I understand how vital it was for us in our childhood.”
Paras said community members will continue to fight to save the pool and continue to spread the message and raise donations.
She added that the draft plan for the site is not written in stone and she believes it can be changed.
“We can stop that. I truly believe that,” she said. “It’s not an either or, a pool or this. It’s a pool and a skateboard park. It’s a pool and a tennis court. There’s Dease Park. It’s large enough to accommodate that.”
A survey on the future of the Dease Pool and Park site can be filled out until Nov. 7 online at the city of Thunder Bay website.
