Community support needed for new pool

“Any of the options are great for the community. It is a big investment for about four or five months … of the year. But we are a growing city, we want to make sure that there is things for people to do inside the community.”

— Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett

A second pool. At the Keystone. With a six-lane lap pool. And a pair of waterslides instead of just one. At least that appears to be the best option from our standpoint.

No doubt councillors around the city hall table had a little sticker shock at the price of the proposed pool options presented to them by Todd Burton this week.

Brandon’s general manager of operations offered up four options for a new outdoor pool in the city on Monday that could open in 2028 should council decide to move forward on a plan. This comes after council asked city administration this past summer to study what a new outdoor pool could look like, with a maximum budget of $4.5 million.

Note that council requested all proposals be large enough for 250-300 people and include a beach entry, lap pool, slides, diving board, spray features, lazy river and a new change house.

It’s not lost on us that the most expensive proposal — the one at the Keystone Centre — would exceed the city’s asked-for budget, with a price tag of anywhere from $5.2 million to $6.1 million.

The other proposals include a plan to tear down the aging Kinsmen Centennial Pool in Rideau Park and replace it with two side-by-side pools for just over $5 million, or to build one pool with four lap lanes connected to a leisure section at Kin Park with a vortex and one waterslide for $4.3 million.

The last, and uncosted option would be for the Kin Park model to be implemented at the Keystone Centre.

All of the options need a change room and parking lot to be built as well, which was included in the prices listed.

During discussion last Monday, Mayor Fawcett suggested that recreation isn’t a “core service” for the city, though he did express the opinion that it serves an important need.

While we understand what he meant, we would argue that recreation services should be considered a core function of a city, due the fact that recreation provides significant community benefits.

Not only do parks and pools and other amenities promote healthy living, they provide spaces for socialization and cultural programs. They provide positive outlets for youth — whether that be hockey and basketball or getting out on the outdoor skating oval.

And most importantly, recreation enhances the quality of life of our city, makes our community more livable and attracts businesses and potential residents to our neighbourhoods. The Keystone Centre is a prime example of that kind of recreational draw.

It makes the quality of life so much better.

And it must be said that the City of Brandon is behind the eight ball when it comes to water recreation, compared to many rural communities that also call western Manitoba home.

At this time, Brandon has only one outdoor pool — the Kinsmen pool at Rideau Park. Tearing it down and building a new one or even two at that same location does little to improve the number of water recreation spaces in this city.

And as Burton so helpfully pointed out, the city would be without an outdoor pool for one year if that option was adopted. With any luck, the Rideau Park pool — which had significant repairs this past year and opened late — could continue to be in operation for a few more years.

Creating a new pool at Kin Park isn’t a terrible suggestion, though it would be somewhat off the beaten track when it comes to accessibility for ordinary Brandonites.

The Keystone Centre was an already well-known pool destination before the Kiwanis Pool was closed down in 2019. Not only does it have the necessary space for parking — and the potential for a sprawling facility and any number of potential spin-off benefits — the Keystone suits well as a central location.

But again, that price tag must be daunting to a council that will likely face another significant budget increase in early 2026. We’re glad to hear that the city has applied for government grants to alleviate the costs, but what’s missing here is community involvement.

The popularity — and thus the fundraising strength — of service clubs like the Kinsmen organization and the Kiwanis Club that helped fund the pools at Rideau Park and the Keystone Centre has waned over the years.

Yet so many of the water parks and swimming pools in places like Souris or Deloraine were the beneficiaries of significant fundraising efforts within the last decade. For example, the Boissevain-Morton Parks and Recreation Board turned to corporate sponsors and grassroots community residents with a goal to fundraise $200,000 toward the cost of a new community pool.

Whichever proposal that council decides upon, we have to ask whether there is still interest among our citizens to help fundraise for recreational facilities like this one that we deem important to our lives as city residents.

If Boissevain can do it, why can’t we?