A tale of two pools

St. Vital

The two indoor pools of southeast Winnipeg lie along a stretch of Fermor Avenue between Archibald Street and Dunkirk Drive.

Bonivital Pool (1215 Archibald) underwent major renovations for the past two years. While it was closed, parents faced a tremendous challenge finding swimming lesson spots. Available classes could be found only at other indoor pools across the city, such as Pan-Am, Seven Oaks Sherbrook, and so on. Driving or bussing to these locations on school nights meant rush hour travel, often through downtown, to far0flung locations on tight schedules.

Further, the removal of such a significant facility from citywide inventory put still more pressure on the already busy pools.

I recently gave the pool at the YMCA-YWCA’s south community hub (5 Fermor Ave.) a try for the first time. I had recently switched my gym membership there, and decided to give a family membership a shot. It allowed me to get my youngest son into the Y’s “come-and-go” weekly registration swimming lessons, a convenient and quality option.

In December, that pool at the Fermor Y was closed for renovations of its own, scheduled to last until early January 2026. Fortunately, this was nearly perfectly timed with the re-opening of Bonivital and I was excited to visit the newly renovated facility.

The change rooms have been completely remodelled. In addition to refreshed and modernized men’s and women’s areas, a new family change room with spacious multi-person stalls has been added. Interestingly, I first had opportunity to use change rooms of this type with my wife, sons and daughter at…the Fermor Y. It is great to see the City of Winnipeg’s pools now adopting these modern amenities.

The re-opening of the City of Winnipeg’s only indoor aquatic facility in the southeast is a boon to another cause close to my heart – what I hope will be the continuation and expansion of the Louis Riel School Division’s Swimming Counts water safety program, which I have championed in my role as school trustee in the division’s next budget. Until now, students from the six schools in that pilot project have been bussed to pools around the city that were available.

Here’s to a great year for swimming in the southeast in 2026.