REGINA — For those in the swimming community, the sod-turning ceremony for Regina’s new Indoor Aquatics Facility was a day long in coming.
“This is a huge relief for me. It's been a lot of work,” said Marj Walton, executive director of Swim Saskatchewan, which is the governing body for swimming in Saskatchewan.
The new Indoor Aquatics Facility is located at the Sportplex at 1717 Elphinstone St., close to the existing Lawson Aquatic Centre. The groundbreaking ceremony on Aug. 19 marked a culmination of years of effort and debate on the $285.1-million facility, with much discussion about the cost and even whether the existing Lawson Aquatic Centre should be replaced at all.
Walton said she had been involved in the very first feasibility study that was done 15 years ago. And she said there have been many different studies since then.
“I've presented at many city council meetings. I've presented at executive committee meetings. So it's nice for this debate to finally be done and us get rolling.”
Walton noted that the new geothermal-powered facility will create a lot of opportunity to host national and international events that Regina is not able to host at the moment.
“Right now, due to there only being one pool, there's some of the aquatic sports that could not host a national competition, of which swimming is one of them, because we need to have two pools. And in addition for water polo, the depth where the 25-metre mark isn't enough for water polo to host certain national competitions as well.”
The other issue Walton points to is that the current facility is “basically at capacity for the prime hours that everybody wants, like from after school to early evening.”
“And all the aquatic sports, they have been able to grow and utilizing the space as good as they can. But they're getting stifled, right? And so this will provide opportunity for more kids to get involved in some of the aquatic sports.”
The city says the new facility will feature two 50-metre pools for national competitions, but it also will include a leisure pool with a wave pool and waterslides, along with an outdoor play structure and spray pad. Walton noted these features are important for residents as well.
“There is no indoor leisure pool in the City of Regina unless you check into a hotel,” said Walton. “So this new leisure facility is going to be hugely exciting for the youth and families in this city. I've talked to people within the sport of swimming, that summer swim, so smaller communities in Saskatchewan who might have kids also involved in hockey or volleyball.
“And they say when they come to Regina, they're not going to Lawson pool because there's nothing to do there. However, when they go to other cities where there is the leisure side of the pool, that's what they're doing in between their games. So there's huge opportunity, especially for visitors coming to the city.”
As for the opportunity the new Indoor Aquatics Facility will create in Regina, Walton pointed to the Jeux Canada Games happening in St. John's, N.L.
“It just becomes a sounding board for kids if they're watching any of this. Some of those people become their idols. Many of the people that are Olympians and Paralympians went through the Canada Games. So same thing here with the new facility. It brings opportunities to host national and international competitions, multi-sport games, of which all of that will hopefully draw spectators and will get youth engaged and excited to be part of some of the aquatic sports.”
The new facility is expected to be open in 2029, and already Regina is looking ahead to when they can submit bids to host national events.
Walton said Swimming Canada “knows that this facility is a go.” She said what they do is put out bids on a four-year rotation. They are into a new rotation now.
Walton said once they know that the pool is open, that “between Tourism Regina, City of Regina and Swim Sask and the other aquatic sports that they will start to bid on, hopefully getting some of those.”
