THUNDER BAY – The potential designation of Dease Pool site as a cultural heritage site will get a further look by city administration.
The century-old pool, the city’s oldest outdoor swimming pool, was closed by Thunder Bay city council in December 2018.
The city’s heritage advisory committee last month recommended two options for council’s consideration. The first was to designate the property for its cultural and heritage significance, while the other was to alternatively recommend exploring similar community use at the site or install a plaque to commemorate the pool.
City manager Norm Gale urged council to give administration some time to examine what a designation would mean.
“There’s implications in this and there’s a lot that I think council would appreciate learning more about,” Gale said.
The committee evaluated the property of having high contextual value to the city, with intermediate historical or associative value. The design or physical value of the pool was deemed to be low.
The Vickers Street pool had previously been identified as having heritage value, having been placed on the city’s heritage registry in 2010.
Deputy city clerk Krista Power said a report could be brought to council by the end of September.
Dease Pool opened for its first season in 1911. The pool was built at the behest of the board of education, which urged the former town of Fort William to build a desperately needed outdoor swimming pool to incorporate lessons in its curriculum and provide an alternative to swimming in rivers after multiple drownings.
The pool operated continuously since, avoiding a closure attempt in the 1970s, until it was shuttered in advance of this year’s summer season after significant deterioration.
City administration estimated a cost of more than $1 million to repair the existing pool basin, while rebuilding the pool would cost a total of more than $3 million, with $1.3 million for a new pool basin and $2.8 million for new accessible change rooms.
Since council voted in favour of the closure, there has been a vocal community effort to save the pool, which included bringing the matter to the heritage advisory committee.
A report with future options for the Dease Pool site is expected to go before council in the fall.
