Winnipeg draft budget sets aside millions for new St. Boniface outdoor pool

Next year's draft Winnipeg budget includes millions of dollars to begin work on building a new outdoor pool in St. Boniface.

If approved, the city would spend $2.6 million in 2025 to begin design work on a new aquatic facility in the community, which saw one outdoor pool close this year and faces the prospect of losing a second one after next summer.

Last year's budget called for the closure of Happyland and Windsor Park pools.

The move sparked backlash from the community, and the city delayed closing Windsor Park until at least after 2025, but Happyland closed, despite community fundraising efforts to save it.

An early estimate by the city pegs the cost of the new pool at around $10 million, although an updated estimate will be done once a site is selected.

St. Boniface Coun. Matt Allard says the money in next year's budget wouldn't be enough to guarantee a new facility is built, but he hopes it will lead to funding from other governments.

"If council approves this proposed budget, then it's basically a green light to say go and see what you can do," he told reporters at City Hall on Thursday.

The money for the project is being pulled from reserve funds set aside for use by area councillors.

Mayor Scott Gillingham said there are other levels of government Allard can turn to for funding.

"This is not uncommon for councillors to do this. They use their own funds, as it were, to make an investment to improve their wards, but they'll leverage those funds to get access to and partners at other levels of government," Gillingham said during a news conference Thursday.

3 sites under consideration for new pool

The city is considering three possible sites for the new pool. City staff are expected to make a recommendation in late 2025 or early 2026. 

The City of Winnipeg chose to close Happyland Pool, citing significant repairs and low attendance. 

A group called Friends of Happyland Pool raised nearly $71,000 in an effort to fund operations at the pool for one more season, but the pool's last day open was Sept. 1, 2023.

Teresa Cwik, president of the South St. Boniface Residents' Association, isn't satisfied with the plan for a new pool.

The Happyland and Windsor Park pools are small local facilities that serve the surrounding neighbourhoods. The new facility, Cwik says, will be a regional facility serving a wider area.

"We would rather have four smaller pools that serve the residents of the area a lot better than one aquatic pool," she said in an interview. 

"Having a smaller pool, it was a better place for the neighborhood to meet and enjoy themselves in the short summer."

Cwik says the city should fund the necessary repairs to keep its existing pools open.