THUNDER BAY - Growing up on Vickers Street in the 1940s and 50s, Linda Kennedy remembers spending her summer afternoons swimming at Dease Pool, which at that time still had wooden decks.
“My dad helped build the new one and he broke his leg here,” she said. “He wouldn’t let us come swimming until the nails were pulled out of the wood. We used to come here swimming all the time.”
Kennedy would like to see kids today continue to enjoy the outdoor facility and she was voicing her support during a save Dease Pool rally held at the site on Monday.
“I would rather see a pool go up where children can enjoy themselves and be outside rather than an art gallery,” Kennedy said. “The kids need the pool. They need the outside experience, the fresh air. They get enough time in the house playing games.”
Dozens of people showed up to the rally to sign the petition and organizers of the rally say support is continuing to grow.
“It’s snowballing. It’s a domino effect,” said Maureen Woodcock. “It’s really amazing, so much so in fact there are five or six different groups working on this. When we get it all together, I feel sorry city admin and city council, because it’s happening.”
City council voted last December to close the 106-year-old pool following a report from city administration stating it would cost more than $1 million to repair the existing basin and a brand new pool with new change rooms costing more than $2.8 million.
People wanting to keep the pool open expressed their concerns to council during this year’s budget deliberations and Woodcock said more than 3,000 people have signed petitions to save the pool.
“We’re going to garner more and keep going,” she said. “We voted these people in to act for us, not for themselves, so they have to take a long and hard look at this and say: we can change this.”
While much of focus has been on keeping the facility open for kids in the area, Robert Rea said outdoor pools have benefits to people of all ages and bring social cohesion to a neighbourhood.
“For me, the bang for the buck in the community is this pool can service much more than a splash pad could or youth programs in the community,” he said. “It brings people in the neighbourhood, even those who don’t swim, together.”
Rea used the example of a handicapped man living in the area who cannot use the pool, but enjoys listening to the kids during the summer having fun in the water.
“If he could go, if it was an accessible pool, he probably would be here,” Rea said. “But in the meantime, it builds outward from the pool. People are happy to hear that kind of stuff and see people swimming.”
A ward meeting was recently held and Rea said councilor Brian Hamilton informed a group of Dease Pool supporters that if they can come together as a large group, similar to the Friends of the Conservatory, and look for funding from community organizations, there is the possibility of utilizing the Renew Thunder Bay fund for the pool.
“It’s all about the money,” Rea said. “We are trying to do more with less now. So that is the plan where a lot of us are going for now, where we will get together and try to get some agreements with people and organizations to try and help rebuild the pool.”
Another save Dease Pool rally will be held in May at the Dease Park across the street. Winners of the Save Dease Pool poster contest will also be announced.
