Closing Happyland Pool doesn’t make anybody happy

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/04/2024 (508 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeggers need more swimming pools, swim lessons and recreational opportunities. The current city budget fails us, but it’s not too late to try to change gears.

Our city straddles two rivers. Our province is full of lakes and rivers. Yet, not all Winnipeggers have cottages or local pool access.

With many new immigrants and limited swimming facilities, there’s a huge risk if swim lessons and swim safety aren’t accessible for everyone. Winnipeg has yearly drowning deaths. Further, with escalating crime and the rising police budget, many suggest that if teens find productive, safe, positive activities, they may not try gangs, drugs or crime.

Ask Winnipeg parents about swim lessons. Brace yourself.

Parents struggle to line up adequate lessons. Some have access to private instruction, a backyard pool or a lake, but most need to get to a city pool for lessons. Between lessons, kids need pool time to practice, too. Newcomer or low-income parents, working multiple jobs and using public transportation, may not be able to prioritize getting those coveted city pool lesson spots.

To get my kids to basic swimming proficiency, it took several years, including pandemic experiences. We used multiple options: a neighbour’s backyard pool, a city pool, a university pool, a private fitness centre pool and lessons held at a lake. This almost always required a car. With two younger kids, both parents had to help. If a child has any kind of disability, it’s even more complicated. While people assume this only refers to physical disabilities, all disabilities also need more support. For example, if a child has any kind of sensory processing issue, often with an autism or ADHD diagnosis, learning to swim can be a huge hurdle.

Our city councillors have suggested a funding shift away from wading pools and outdoor seasonal pools and towards more splash pads and aquatic facilities.

Splash pads are easier to maintain and don’t require lifeguards. Aquatic facilities with indoor pools also offer year-round amenities. There are economic benefits to this, but also downsides. Splash pads don’t allow preschoolers to immerse in water or to learn to swim. For those with sensory processing disorder, splashing and intermittent spray can be problematic. Crowded indoor pools, with noisy echoes and music, make disability access hard for some.

Splash pads don’t offer recreation options for kids over 12 or productive summer employment for young lifeguards. Outdoor, free or low-cost neighbourhood pools are low barrier, compared with more distant year-round indoor swim facilities. Those outdoor pools employ young people and fill a neighbourhood park with joyful splashing laughter.

What can fix this? Fundraising efforts to reopen Happyland Pool in the short term, (Thousands raised in Happyland’s defence, April 13) are a start. Despite the warning that these funds will go for other recreation needs if Happyland can’t reopen, let’s take Coun. Matt Allard’s word that he would like to see “any feasible third-party effort to save Happyland.”

Local businesses could sponsor the pool for a season in exchange for free advertising to keep it open.

Another possibility would be to charge adults a small entrance fee. Those under 18 would still get in free. This meets goals mentioned by Coun. Evan Duncan that “everyone should be able to learn to swim.” Further, employing lifeguards at Happyland enables swimming as “not only a life skill, but a life-saving skill.”

Critics mention low usage and aging infrastructure as reasons to close Happyland. Yet, the city didn’t open the pool nearly enough hours to make good use of its facilities.

Summer is short. Open the pool early to lap swimmers. Offer swim lessons every day. Keep the pool open late to cool down after work. A pool that’s open from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. requires more staffing, but it also offers more seasonal work, positive recreation options and life-saving swim lessons.

Aging infrastructure is a citywide issue, not limited to pools. Our city must invest in future infrastructure now, but childhood is short.

Closing a pool in 2024 for a potential aquatic facility to be built sometime in the future denies a generation of kids access to swimming lessons and safe summer play. Give kids productive skills. Employing teens also results in safer communities. Happyland is an older facility, but as elders say, “I’m old, but I’m not dead yet.”

Infrastructure investment in swimming access is imperative. Address this hydra-headed problem immediately. Seek alternative funding to keep Happyland open so council might save for future recreational facilities. Keep outdoor pools open. Swim lessons save lives. Jobs give young people a brighter future. We all need to cool down as summers heat up in our changing climate.

Councillors, businesses, city recreation employees and individual funders should fund a way to keep Happyland open and filled with happy swimmers this summer.

Joanne Seiff is a Winnipeg freelance writer and the author of three books.