The Coaldale Outdoor Pool. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Options for Coaldale pool range from $0 to $25-million

Sep 10, 2019 | 12:53 PM

COALDALE, AB – The Town of Coaldale has identified seven possible options for how to proceed with the future of swimming in the community.

In early July, a “critical failure” was found in the current outdoor pool’s filtration system, forcing the Town to shut it down for the rest of the summer. Its ultimate fate has yet to be decided.

The options going forward, while not being mutually exclusive, include:

• Do nothing. This means there would be no pool in Coaldale
• Spend $300,000 to repair the existing pool. This would give it a life for no more than five years
• Rebuild the existing outdoor pool for a cost of $3-million. The Town says, however, that the pool was originally built with a smaller population in mind than what Coaldale currently has
• Build a larger outdoor pool for $6.5-million that would be open for 10-12 weeks each summer
• Build a leisure indoor facility for $10-million. According to the town, it would likely not include the “diverse features typically sought after by swimmers and would likely not be of a sufficient size/scope to attract competitive swimming competitions”
• Spend $25-million to build a full-scale indoor facility with room for lane swimming, a rec area, full access for those with limited mobility, ect. This number does not include annual operating costs, which could be as high as $800,000 per year.
• Find a potential private sector partner (P3) that would own and operate the facility, but provide residents with swimming access

Mayor Kim Craig says he personally likes the final option.

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“I have always been a strong believer that, for an indoor pool for a town our size, to carry that on our own is going to a horrendous burden, so going with a P3 model would sort of be my personal takeaway.”

Prior to the 2008 financial crash, Craig recounts that plans were in motion to have a company build a hotel in Coaldale that would include a large indoor pool. He tells LNN that he would love to see some kind of a similar amenity be built now.

At the end of the day, however, the mayor wants to hear from the public before potentially going ahead with any of these options.

Towards the end of September, the Town of Coaldale is looking to host public consultations on the new high school and rec center. Conversations around a new pool would happen at the same time.