'I thought it was a joke': Youth centre employees react to new pool

With the future of Moncton's proposed east end pool still up in the air, employees at Moncton East Youth Centre say they're not in favour of the current plan.

Drew Eatmon, a summer student and user of the old pool at the centre, said he'd like to know who thought a one-metre pool was a good idea.

"If none of the council members were aware of it, then who else would it be?" Eatmonsaid.

"At least include a deep end, so that people can actually swim, so that it's not just for little children."

Removal of the old pool, which had a deep end and a diving tank, began earlier this month, and the city plans to put in one that's only one-metre deep, with no deep end.

The shallow depth took even councillors by surprise, with onecalling it a wading pool.Finance Minister Cathy Rogers said she would looking into having some provincial financing for the project removed.

Because of the backlash against the pool design, the city has staff to find out how much it would cost to give the pool a deep end.

'Thought it was a joke'

Hayley Desroche, the youth centre's daycare manager, said she didn't believe it when she was told the plan for the pool.

"I thought it was a joke when they first told us that it was three feet," said Desroche.

"Somebody came in and said it, and I kind of thought they were just joking."

Desroche said the depth of the pool would significantly limit who would want to use it.

"I have a two-year-old daughter who I'm sure would be able to have a blast in a three-foot pool," said Desroche.

"I don't know how you would learn to swim in a three-foot pool when you can still touch the bottom."

Situation 'unfortunate'

Darryl Condon, a managing principal architect with HCMA Architecture and Design in Vancouver, said it was "unfortunate" the project reached this point without a clear understanding of what demographic the project was intended for.

"The issue in pool design is having a really good understanding of the type of user that you're trying to accommodate and designing the depth of the pool to suit that anticipated programming," said Condon, who is not involved in the project.

"There isn't any specific rule that a pool shall be this deep or this shallow. It's really matching the pool to the needs of the local situation. "

In defending the shallow depth, the city said the pool was designed to accommodate all ages, abilities and uses, such as swimming lessons and volleyball.

Condon said that generally a pool targeted toward younger users would tend to be shallower, while older users would require a deeper pool. But even this isn't set in stone, he said.

"It's a really difficult challenge because you know many many people are not comfortable swimmers and most activity in public swimming pools takes place in water depths between about two feet and four feet deep," said Condon.

"Anything deeper than that does shut out a lot of users and shallower than that often isn't very effective."

For Brooke King, a summer student at the youth centre, the solution is simple, stop construction and reevaluate.

"I know it's not really easy to stop construction midway, but if it was 100 per cent possible to do that, I would tell them just stop and look at it," said King.

"Come up with an idea and include everybody. Make sure everybody knows what you're doing before you continue it."