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ALEX LUPUL \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
The city is looking at Provencher Park to be the next site for a new aquatic centre. Approval of that plan would result in the closure of Provencher Pool.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cBuilding the new pool at Provencher Park would support equitable access in an area with higher poverty,\u201d says the report, which will be discussed by council members Sept. 8. \u201cIt would replace the existing pool, which is near the end of its useful life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Provencher Park is the most feasible site on which to build and is expected to have the lowest cost of development, the report said.<\/p>\n
The closure of the Provencher Pool to make way for a new facility could ensure the surrounding community has a place to swim for \u201cgenerations,\u201d area councillor Matt Allard said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy hope is to avoid what happened with Happyland and to instead have a new facility,\u201d Allard (St. Boniface) said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
In 2023, Happyland Pool closed despite the community raising $70,000-plus to keep it open. While the Windsor Park pool, also in St. Boniface, had been slated to close last summer, the city has since budgeted for the pool to remain open next summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy hope is to avoid what happened with Happyland and to instead have a new facility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Early estimates for the cost of an aquatic facility at Provencher Park range from $18 million to $21 million. Capital funding for the development of a new outdoor pool in St. Boniface was approved in the 2025 and 2026 budgets.<\/p>\n
So far, about $2.5 million has been approved for the facility, and an additional $2.2 million is forecast between 2027-31.<\/p>\n
Even if the community services committee votes in support of the report, it will require full council approval to move forward.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \u201cI think it is good news for St. Boniface, and I hope this report keeps moving through the system,\u201d Allard said.<\/p>\n Some members of the community, still hurt by the closure of Happyland, don\u2019t want another free outdoor pool to close.<\/p>\n \u201cThey should not close the pool until they have another pool available,\u201d said Teresa Cwik, the president of the Old St. Boniface Residents Association.<\/p>\n \u201cThe people in our area are not really for the big aquatic centres because the kids and the families can\u2019t really afford to go to them. Everyone liked having the smaller pools because it serviced about 98 per cent of the people in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey should not close the pool until they have another pool available.\u201d<\/p>\n Allard has said the Transcona Aquatic Park, which opened in 2017, is an example of what could be built in St. Boniface.<\/p>\n The Transcona pool charges $8.55 for an adult ticket, $3.81 for children over two, and $16.81 for group tickets.<\/p>\n Allard pointed to the city\u2019s recreation fee assistance program, which offers unlimited admission to city rec centres to applicants based on their income, as a way the city could accommodate low-income families who used the Provencher pool.<\/p>\n Cwik, who advocated to keep Happyland Pool open and was part of fundraising efforts, said she\u2019s not convinced a new facility in Provencher Park will be an easy sell.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you close the pool and this aquatic centre doesn\u2019t get built for 10 years, then you\u2019ve just closed another pool,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The Provencher Pool, along with the Windsor Park Pool, will close for the season Friday.<\/p>\n malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Malak Abas Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg\u2019s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Malak produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProvencher Pool is located at 590 rue Langevin in St. Boniface.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Reporter
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