The green spaces of the Pan Am Pool

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/02/2017 (3148 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sometimes, a lawn is just a green space where children can play and adults can walk or just enjoy the view, but it can be much more.

The lawn in front of the Pan Am Pool on Grant Avenue is a prime example of a place that has been home to more than just the grass that covers it.

The Pan Am Pool first opened in 1967, in time to host the swimming segment of the Pan Am Games that year. When the competitions returned to Winnipeg in 1999, the Pan Am Pool was once again the site where the water sports took place, the same year that it was home to the FINA Women’s World Polo Cup.

Renovations are already starting to prepare the facility for its next major sports competition, the 2017 Canada Games.

Although the inside of the Pan Am complex will likely be of the most interest to sports fans, the yard outside the complex has much to interest nature and plant lovers. Perhaps one of the most interesting features is a copse of coniferous trees, planted in 1996 by the Rotary Clubs of Winnipeg to become what is called, perhaps somewhat euphemistically, the “Pan Am Pool Forest.”

The Canadian Urban Forests Network lists many benefits of trees for the health of cities and the 81.1 per cent of Canadians who live in urban areas, including storm protection, removal of pollutants from the air, and less tangible benefits such as “improved aesthetics, psychological well being, and recreational and educational opportunities.”

The small group of trees is still far from what most people would describe as a forest, but perhaps the idea is to represent a connection between the natural world and an appreciation for the skills that athletes develop.

Although the trees are still standing, for the first year since 2008, the Landless Farmers Collective will not be running a community garden on the Pan Am Pool site. Although “most (if not all) people generally desire and support more greenery and less concrete,” as the collective’s website states, the municipal government will now have to decide how to use the plot of land where the garden once was.  

The space by the Pan Am Pool might change in the future, but whatever happens there can still be an example of creative ways of using open space.

Susan Huebert is a community correspondent for River Heights.