Calgary Recreation being Drained

With city council’s approval of the $60 million budget cut, two inner-city pools are slated to close at the end of 2019. Councillor Druh Farrell said, “It’s the exact opposite of what we have promised.”  She believes it to be an inequity towards communities that are undergoing significant re-densification and a disregard to quality of life. With the lack of investment, according to a coalition of community associations and developers, that the city had committed to in helping established neighbourhoods to prepare for increased development and density.

The city website states that the age and condition of the pools “no longer meet current service level expectations,” and “changing citizen preferences” have led to declining use of the centres. Naomi Withers, with the Inglewood Community Association, was disappointed due to the lack of any facts about why their pool got chosen for the budget cuts. Inglewood residents banded together to save their pool and already have thousands of signatures on a petition. Join the Movement and Help Save Calgary Pools.

 With the development of the city’s new Event Centre, they hope to also vitalize inner-city living. Even some of the unused downtown office space is being converted to residential to promote occupancy.  The two inner-city pools have been a vital part of the community since the mid-1950s and by removing them would eliminate Calgary’s inner-city recreational facilities. Once lost, these infrastructures would be very costly to rebuild in the future when needed as the city’s downtown grows.

The closure of the two inner-city swimming pools will leave groups, like the Special Olympics Swim Team, that rely on them scrambling to find a new place to practice. The swimming pools are also a local lifeline for the community. Seniors get together with friends, connect with the community, and keep fit at these local pools. Parents who work full-time can benefit participating with their kids in the after-school programs.

With city council’s approval of the $60 million budget cut, two inner-city pools are slated to close at the end of 2019. Councillor Druh Farrell said, “It’s the exact opposite of what we have promised.”  She believes it to be an inequity towards communities that are undergoing significant re-densification and a disregard to quality of life. With the lack of investment, according to a coalition of community associations and developers, that the city had committed to in helping established neighbourhoods to prepare for increased development and density.

The city website states that the age and condition of the pools “no longer meet current service level expectations,” and “changing citizen preferences” have led to declining use of the centres. Naomi Withers, with the Inglewood Community Association, was disappointed due to the lack of any facts about why their pool got chosen for the budget cuts. Inglewood residents banded together to save their pool and already have thousands of signatures on a petition. Join the Movement and Help Save Calgary Pools. 

With the development of the city’s new Event Centre, they hope to also vitalize inner-city living. Even some of the unused downtown office space is being converted to residential to promote occupancy.  The two inner-city pools have been a vital part of the community since the mid-1950’s and by removing them would eliminate Calgary’s inner-city recreational facilities. Once lost, these infrastructures would be very costly to rebuild in the future when needed as the city’s downtown grows.

The closure of the two inner-city swimming pools will leave groups, like the Special Olympics Swim Team, that rely on them scrambling to find a new place to practice. The swimming pools are also a local lifeline for the community. Seniors get together with friends, connect with the community, and keep fit at these local pools. Parents who work full-time can benefit participating with their kids in the after-school programs.

The Inglewood pool is that community’s only City of Calgary recreation facility. Closing this would leave no recreational facilities within a walking or biking distance available to Inglewood residents. The pool is also a hub for summer camps, fitness, and recreational events for all ages. To attract additional patrons Inglewood community feels that expansion including a hot tub and a fitness facility would benefit greatly.

It seems that the city was anticipating the needs of a growing downtown population needing local recreational facilities by having recently done major renovations to the Beltline Aquatic Centre. Now they want to throw all that investment of taxpayers money away because of a tight budget. The city is keeping both pools open till the end of 2019 to allow for discussion between the communities and swimming pools to prevent closing. Maybe the city should look at leasing the facilities to unemployed entrepreneurs that are creative enough to run them efficiently and able to balance the books.

Swimming pools, golf courses, and the bobsled track are all public recreational facilities that are closing due to lack of funds. As with the Richmond Green Golf Course, it may be that wages are out of line with the productivity of the facility and need to be adjusted accordingly. It was great that city council recognized that their wages were out of context and needed a reduction. Now they need to take it a step further having civic employees’ wages adjusted to the productivity of their departments. We may not need to have budget cuts and many employees will also retain their jobs.

Make the M.A.D. Move to save Calgary’s recreational facilities. Sign the petition to save our inner-city aquatic centres. Present your ideas that can Make A Difference in the way our recreational facilities are operated and maintained. To maintain and improve the status quo of our recreational and entertainment facilities we need to change the way they are run. It is up to you to Make That Difference.