Signs of summer: City opens outdoor pools

The city’s outdoor pools are open, officially ushering in the summer season in Thunder Bay.

Kids of all ages couldn’t wait to dive in, splashing their vacation cares away on Day 1 of their annual summer break. Brianna Boucher, 9, said she can’t think of anything she’d rather be doing on a sunny late June afternoon.

“It’s really fun because you can do lots of tricks in the deep end and in the shallow end you can do surfing on the boogie boards. You can do lots of stuff,” the youngster said, brought to Dease Street Pool by her aunt who was babysitting for the day.

Her friend, eight-year-old Tim Shaw loves all the activities he finds at the pools, open free to the public seven days a week.

“There’s floating things and you get to swim around and do tricks in the water,” he said, shivering a little on a day when it was hovering around room temperature outside.

For teen Sheldon Watt, it’s as much a social activity as anything else.

“It gets hot outside and I always like coming here to cool down and chill out with my buddies. It’s a social place,” Sheldon said, adding he’s been swimming at Dease Street Pool for about four years.
 
Thunder Bay operates three outdoor and two indoor pools.

In addition to Dease Pool, the city also oversees the Heath Park Pooland Minnesota Street’s Art Widnall Pool, and also provides supervised swimming at Chippewa Park and Boulevard Lake.

Robert Deleo, the assistant facility operator at Dease Street Pool, said it’s a sure sign of summer when the pools open.

Though not entirely busy on opening day, there were plenty ready to hit the water.

“There were people lined up at quarter to (one) waiting to come into the pool,” he said. “It gives the kids something else to do in the summer. They’ve got to entertain themselves somehow. Instead of just hanging out, they come here.”

Visit the City of Thunder Bay website for pool hours.