The Milton Centennial Pool suffered severe damage in last July’s torrential rains and floods. (Rick Conrad)

The Milton Centennial Pool will remain closed this summer.

“It is very, very unfortunate, but the Milton pool will not be opening this year,” Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman said Monday.

The pool suffered significant damage in last July’s torrential rains and floods. Councillors heard Monday that it would cost from $100,000 to $150,000 to fix the pool.

The rains and flooding last summer damaged the pool liner. Even though the region ordered a new liner immediately, it arrived only in late December. So staff winterized the structure as best they could, according to Adam Grant, the region’s director of engineering and public works.

This spring, the region’s staff discovered the base of the pool had been damaged even further.

Grant said it would take about 12 weeks to do the work, with the “best-case scenario” of having the pool open by August.

Mayor Darlene Norman said the North Queens Aquatic Centre in Caledonia will be open.

“Unfortunately, for this summer we will be unable to provide seasonal swimming lessons at Milton pool,” Norman said in an interview.

“We did make the decision and we made it now so that we don’t have people’s hopes up.”

The region is going ahead with hiring lifeguards for the pool in Caledonia. CAO Cody Joudry said the pool staff hired will be employed for the whole summer. 

Councillors decided to keep the $40,000 budgeted for Milton pool operations in this year’s budget. They suggested that money could go toward extending the hours at the pool in Caledonia, covering mileage for lifeguards who have to travel to Caledonia or working out a deal with Queens County Transit to provide transportation for pool users in south Queens to north Queens.

They asked staff to report back with recommendations on what to do this summer and next year, until the new outdoor pool at Queens Place Emera Centre can be built.

Last Friday, Queens MLA Kim Masland announced $2.2 million in provincial funding toward the $7.2-million pool. The region has already committed $2 million, with another $3 million coming from a private anonymous donor.

Norman said last week that the region hopes to start construction in spring 2025, with an opening in 2026.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Flood waters submerge cars up to their windows in the parking lot of a Bedford restaurant. Photo: Communications Nova Scotia

The Milton Centennial Pool appears to have been the greatest casualty for the Region of Queens in this weekend’s storm.

The storm washed out roads, and 100-series highways in neighbouring Hants and Lunenburg counties as well as Halifax with reports indicating between 250 and 300 mm of rain fell across Queens County on Friday.

Despite receiving a summer’s worth of rainfall in a single day, Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman says Queens County got off relatively easy.“We were very, very fortunate here in Queens compared to Lunenburg,” said Norman. “There was no major damage to infrastructure. There was a road wash out on St. Catherine’s Rd in Port Joli.”

Norman says Port Medway and Liverpool fire departments were prepared to go in with their Zodiac boats to evacuate the 45 residents on that road.

The provincial public works department initially estimated the road would take four to five days to repair but after the water subsided, they discovered the major culvert was still intact and the road was repaired by Sunday morning.

Norman says a few driveways have been washed out but for the most part, Queens residents were spared the major damage experienced in other areas of the province.

She spoke with an official at Nova Scotia Public Works and in his words, “he said, Darlene, it ain’t pretty, but we got their driveways fixed. But he was just so impressed by the politeness and the patience that people had as they understood that this is serious, and they will get their driveways fixed.”

Unfortunately, the storm caused significant damage to the Milton Centennial Pool, and it will not reopen the rest of this summer as engineering and public works staff assess the extent of the damage.

The Region of Queens has been wrestling with how to replace the Milton Pool for over a year.

Council recently decided to move forward with a new outdoor pool to be located alongside Queens Place and are awaiting designs.

Anyone enrolled in swim lessons will be contacted and issued a refund.

Mayor Norman says staff will continue to monitor and assess damage across the county but if anyone sees damage that doesn’t look like it’s being addressed, they should contact the municipal office.

“If there are concerns and you see no one and it seems like you’ve been forgotten, then it’s probably because people are unaware. So, please always make a contact. Let people know when you are need of help,” said Norman. “And thank you to every volunteer fireman, neighbour, friend who helped each other and looked after one another because that’s what we’re all about.”

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Queens Place. Photo Ed Halverson

Region of Queens has called in professional help to determine where to build the new outdoor pool and regional library.

The same Project Manager who is working on the new library project has been hired to assist in siting the pool.

Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman says the project manager will examine the location to determine if the site can accommodate what is being asked before presenting a report to staff and council.

“Council has directed that they want the replacement for Milton Centennial Pool on the lands of Queens Place Emera Centre,” said Norman. “They also indicated they want the library on that site and when they say Queens Place Emera Centre, they strictly mean that lawned area around Queens Place not the rest of the land over there, just that, snugged into that building. So, the project manager will have to determine if both of those buildings will fit.”

The project manager will also need to ensure there are enough setbacks to follow the land use bylaws, there is enough parking, sufficient lighting as well as water access.

Norman says the pool committee has provided a comprehensive list for the design.

“For example, they would like to see a six-lane pool. Will a six-lane pool fit there? That’s up to the project manager to determine. A zero-entry pool, a certain number of locker rooms etc. etc. So then that project manager will take those items that came forward from the pool committee and work with them to create an outdoor pool on the lands of Queens Place Emera Centre, fingers crossed,” said Norman.

Once it’s been determined whether the buildings will fit adjacent to Queens Place, an architect will be hired to design a pool to meet the requirements of the pool committee.

Norman says the project manager has already been working on site for weeks.

Once he has finished his work and made his evaluation a report will be brought to council for their consideration at an upcoming meeting.

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Once the snow melts, residents can look forward to a summer of swimming at the Milton and North Queens municipal pools. Photo Ed Halverson

The Region of Queens is reopening pools this summer and are looking for staff.

The Milton Centennial and North Queens Aquatic Centre were closed last year as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19.

Director of recreation and healthy communities Meaghan Roberts says both facilities staff and the public now understand how to safely operate and make use of recreation facilities during a pandemic.

“Obviously the protocols that get put out by public health and the provincial government, we’re all required to follow them in everything that we do,” said Roberts. I think they’re a little bit more clear now, a year into COVID, what the expectations are.”

Roberts says they won’t need to go through public health to get approval for their plan as Queens has the benefit of being able to learn how other pools operated last summer and apply that to their opening.

Another reason why the Queens public pools didn’t open last year was the impact of COVID on the ability to train incoming lifeguards and staff.

Roberts says as the pandemic has gone on, protocols have been established to allow that training to happen and she expects there will be no problem in finding trained staff to fill the necessary roles.

“They did end up getting their certifications and so, things have happened this year, it’s just everything is happening just a little bit differently. It might be less participants in courses and how they learn their skills and whatnot, because of COVID has changed, but they have run in various forms,” said Roberts.

Applications for the summer pool position are available on the Region of Queens jobs page, or click here.

Roberts says the region is still finalizing their pool re-opening plan, but residents can be confident staff will be ready to welcome swimmers this summer.

“You just cross your fingers and hope for the best. You know, COVID is here and we have to live with it and it’s just finding out ways that you can operate safely because safety, obviously, is our number one priority,” said Roberts. “We would never open if it wasn’t going to be safe.”

Reported by Ed Halverson 
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