Mount Pleasant pool supervisors Kristine Church (L) and Jen Zacharias take advantage of an empty pool on the last day of the season to have a swim in NW Calgary, Alberta on Sept. 2,2012. Outdoor pools were kept busy this summer thanks to better than average temperatures.
photo by STUART DRYDEN/CALGARY SUN/QMI AGENCY
by CARL JOHNSON SPECIAL TO THE SUN
Calgary’s outdoor swimming pools are in danger of being forgotten, according to the association tasked with maintaining them.
The outdoor pool system saw only modest increases in usage this summer and there hasn’t been much in the way of advertising from the city or the Calgary Outdoor Swimming Pool Association (COSPA).
“We had only a small increase in usage overall this year; around 1 or 2% over last year,” said Roger Leach, treasurer for COSPA.
“And we haven’t got the budget for advertising.”
The City of Calgary has made it clear the outdoor pool system is not high on their list of priorities — they stopped maintaining it in 2004.
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“Our pool system is not a major concern for the city as only part of our funding comes from them,” said Leach. “Since our association (COSPA) took over the pool system, we’ve had to grab every grant that we can get our hands on and we may have to increase our fees for next year to keep up.”
Jennifer Zackarias, pool supervisor for the Mt. Pleasant outdoor swimming pool, said it seems few people are even aware they’re still in business.
“We definitely need an aggressive advertising campaign to collect more interest for Calgary’s outdoor pools,” she said.
“We have several challenges to overcome, like the weather — it being our biggest concern since we are outdoor — other recreation centres, and the number of man-made community lakes being built.
“The city could be doing more to help us out.”
Kathy Davidson, the city’s superintendent of operations for recreation, said spreading the word about pools is up to the communities in which they operate.