Community group raises $70K in bid to save St. Boniface outdoor swimming pool from closure

St. Boniface residents are asking the city to reconsider its decision to close down a beloved public outdoor swimming pool this summer after community residents raised more than $70,000 in less than a month to help save it.

In its preliminary 2024 budget the City of Winnipeg announced it was closing Happyland pool, citing significant repairs and low attendance. Since then, a community group called Friends of Happyland Pool has worked to try to save the facility from demolition.

After launching a fundraising campaign less than a month ago, the group says it has collected $70,848.50, and plans on giving it to the city if it decides to keep it open this season.

"The city doesn't really have anything to lose," Teresa Cwik of the South St. Boniface Residents Association said during a Riel community committee meeting at city hall on Tuesday.

Cwik says the group is still trying to raise $85,000 to cover the average annual operating cost of the pool. It's hoping the city will extend the pool's operation this year so the group has time to find an organization willing to run it long-term.

"We want to keep the pool going for as long as we can," Cwik told CBC News after the meeting. "If we manage to keep it open this year, it will give us some time to work on a solution to saving it for the future years."

Cwik says the group has been in talks with groups that might be willing to operate the pool.

She also said the MLA for St. Boniface, Robert Loiselle, told her the group could potentially qualify for up to $50,000 through a provincial grant, which could be used to keep the pool open. The grant is available through a program for high-needs neighbourhoods recently announced by the province, Cwik said.

Loiselle told CBC News he encouraged the group to apply.

Coun. Matt Allard (St. Boniface ) has been against the pool's closure. He and Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) passed a motion on Tuesday for the city's community services committee to consider using the funding to keep the Happyland open for the season.

The committee is expected to meet next week.

The funds came largely from three local Manitoba Métis Federation chapters — about $22,000. Another $15,000 was donated by the charity Réseau Compassion Network, and another $15,000 from the real estate developer Olexa Developments, an email forwarded to CBC News by Allard said.

About $5,000 came from individuals and small businesses in the area.

Cwik said she encourages more people to donate so the group can reach their $85,000 goal.