Windsor Park, Eldon Ross pool closures delayed after amendments to City of Winnipeg budget
Executive policy committee passed several changes to 2024 budget on Tuesday
Two of three Winnipeg pools slated for closure got a slight reprieve Tuesday morning as Mayor Scott Gillingham's inner circle made several changes to the 2024 budget.
The Windsor Park outdoor pool in St. Boniface, which had been threatened with closure, will stay open for at least two more summers, remaining in operation for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
That will give time for the city to start consultations on a potential new aquatic facility for St. Boniface.
Another outdoor pool in St. Boniface — Happyland — is still expected to close.
Eldon Ross Pool in Brooklands will remain open until the end of August, giving time for the city to look for potential buyers interested in keeping the pool open to the public.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Gillingham said the city has aging assets and it must decide what to do with them.
"I've said consistently, there comes a time when ... we just have to stop putting Band-Aids on things, and say the better decision is to close or decommission an asset and look longer term at the kind of services that we and Winnipeggers need in the future," Gillingham said.
The City of Winnipeg says the three pools need significant repairs and have low attendance. The estimated costs to upgrade the facilities are $10 million for Eldon Ross, $4 million for Windsor Park and $3.6 million for Happyland.
Community members and supporters advocated to save all three pools, arguing they are well used when they are open and important to their surrounding neighbourhoods.
Finance committee chair Coun. Jeff Browaty, speaking beside Gillingham, wouldn't make any guarantees about the discussion process on a new aquatic facility in St. Boniface would lead to a new pool.
"We're going to have to figure out what the grand aquatic plan is for St. Boniface going forward," Browaty said.
"We look at the success and the popularity of … some of these more regional [aquatic] centres, with the one in Transcona and how successful that is. It's sort of that type of model that I think, you know, we would probably want to emulate here, if at all possible."
St. Boniface Coun. Matt Allard campaigned against the pool closures in his ward, while Point Douglas Coun. Vivian Santos held a community meeting to hear ideas on how to save Eldon Ross Pool.
On Tuesday, Allard told reporters he did everything he could to stop the closures of both outdoor pools, including Happyland.
"I think it's devastating for the community," Allard said.
"St. Boniface residents are feeling that there's been net loss to the community, and I'm hoping that very soon that loss will feel like a win. But for now, it really hurts."
Michelle Kirkbride, community development co-ordinator with the NorWest Co-op, says the pool is important for families in the area, who can't easily get to other facilities.
"I think we'd all be feeling a little bit better if we knew the long-term plan but ... this buys us a few more months," she said.
"[Residents] have a few more months of their pool and they have a few more months to show how important it is."
Keeping Windsor Park pool open for two more summers will cost around $210,000, while one extra summer at Eldon Ross will cost $110,000
The city will pay for the extra seasons at Windsor Park and Eldon Ross by redirecting part of $2 million it had planned to spend relocating the Winnipeg Parking Authority's office from Portage Avenue to a vacant restaurant space inside the Susan A. Thompson Building at city hall.
That project will not move ahead.
In a meeting lasting under six minutes, the executive policy committee unanimously passed a number of changes to the budget.
It also added Sunday hours at the Harvey Smith library branch from Labour Day to Victoria Day. The committee did not, however, reverse a plan to cut Sunday hours at the Millennium Library branch downtown.
Advocates had rallied to keep the flagship downtown branch open seven days a week, but Gillingham said the cost of opening the Millennium Library far exceeded other branches.
The cost of opening Harvey Smith on Sundays for one year is $31,500, while doing so at Millennium would cost nearly $300,000.
The amending motion EPC passed did not include a change made by the property and development committee, moved by chair Coun. Sherri Rollins, that would have doubled the number of permanent permit staff it plans to hire each year.
Council casts its final vote on the budget on Wednesday.
Other budget amendments:
- The city will give a Downtown Arts Capital grant to support major downtown arts organizations for projects of $500,000 or more in cost. Eligible organizations must have more than 40 years presence in downtown Winnipeg.
- City staff will work with the Winnipeg Arts Council to develop a program to include public art in major capital projects.
- Buhler Recreation Park will receive a one-time grant of $70,000.
- The city is speeding up a replacement program for its decision making information system — where people can access things like meeting agendas and city policies online. Originally set for 2019, it will start this year.
- $10 million from the Manitoba government for wastewater infrastructure will go to pay for a replacement of the broken river crossing pipes that led to a massive sewage spill near the Fort Garry Bridge.
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