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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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 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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