Friends of Wascana Pool group member outraged over pool approval process, design

Jeannie Mah is packing up her home in Regina's Cathedral area.The artisthad moved back to her hometown ofRegina decades ago to be in the Crescents and swim daily in Wascana Pool, but after seeing the new pool's concept she's moving away.

Last week, the City of Regina released the approved concept plan for the pool. It's a large facility with a waterslide, a lazy river, a 25-metre lane swimming area, an accessible spray pad and more.

The pool is expected to cost$15 million to build, $12 million of which is coming from the provincial Municipal Economic Enhancement Program. Workers will cut down about 60 trees, with 11 othersto be relocated. The city says each tree cut down will be replaced with three others.

"When the process started with a survey about the pool, we were optimistic," said Mah, one of the founding members of Friends of Wascana Pool.

Friends of Wascana Pool started in 1994 when the city originally wanted to tear down the pool. Mah said the group wanted to see the 50-yard pool extended to 50 metres and include a toddler area, but still remain small and simple.

In the June2019 survey, 68 per cent of people wanted to maintain the current size of the pool, 11 per cent did not. In the same survey, 58 per cent of people wanted to swim laps and that rose to 75 per cent if swim lessons were included.

Instead, through the process of a August2019 stakeholder meeting, a November2019 survey and contracting a pool consultant, the city and Provincial Capital Commission which runs Wascana Park landed on three concepts. It approved the final concept in May2021.

Mah saidFriends of Wascana Poolwas unhappy to not see a 50-metre pool for the recreational swimmers. She said the design focuseson children and people that only use it on the hottest days, instead of daily users.

"Of course, we want a 21st century pool, but never in our wildest dreams would we have thought that in a pool rebuild, would see us lose a classic swimming pool that people have been using daily every morning for years," Mah said. "I feel completely betrayed."

In a statement to CBC Saskatchewan, the City of Regina said there was "extensive engagement" for the pool, including two surveys and the stakeholder meeting. The city said it wanted feedback from across generations of current and future pool users.

Mah said losing the trees also takes away from the atmosphere of the pool. She said the previous rectangular shape was soothing and being surrounded by trees is part of that experience.

The city said it understands the need for a competitive 50-metre pool. It said this will be addressed through the feasibility study for a new indoor aquatic centre that will begin shortly.

Mah said it doesn't make sense to be telling swimmers to go indoors.

"The city has not understood its own citizens. And even worse, it has not understood the beauty of the place we live in. I think that's what drives me the most crazy. This is really beautiful and we have to make it into a fun fair."

Mah said the amusement park concept is a loss for the seniors and adult daily swimmers. She said this waterslide facility should have been built indoors where it could be used 12 months of the year and Wascana Pool should have been a simplerrebuild.

"We don't know what it's going to cost even to swim here. And we know that people only come when it's really hot, whereas the daily swimmers will swim in the rain, in the cold, because we love to swim."