Grenfell Campus pool closure saddens Corner Brook swim community

The impending closure of the swimming pool on Memorial University's Grenfell Campus has swimmers in Corner Brook wondering how they will do without the facility.

"It's tough. I know from the talk in the swim community here, it's very disappointing," said Charlotte Jones, whose now-grownchildren were competitive swimmers, and who still regularly exercisesat the pool.

"Swimming is such a beautiful way to stay fit," she said."It's an endurance sport. It's wonderful, it's not hard on the joints."

• In the deep end:MUN'sGrenfellCampus pool closing after 40 years

The 40-year-old pool is one of two main facilities in the cityheavily used for swimming lessons, rentals andcommunity groups such as the Corner Brook Rapids Swim Club.

However,on ThursdayGrenfell Campus announced the pool would close indefinitely at the end of the winter semester in April 2016.

Gary Bradshaw, associate vice-president of the university,said the facilityhas become so deterioratedthe university hadno choice, as the administration looks for ways to fund an estimated $2-million worth of repairs.

"We've been aware that there's been a growing requirement for significant repairs on the pool,"Bradshawtold CBC'sCorner Brook MorningShow.

"We've been doing the basic maintenance on a regular basis, but now the pool's really at a point where it does require almost a total rehabilitation."

A total overhaul

The university commissioned an engineering report earlier in 2015 for a definitive analysis of the pool's problems.

"The report came back that it was in a very deteriorated state, and we would need to make significant repairs," saidBradshaw.

While the structural base underneath the pool is one of the main concerns, its filtration and mechanical systems, deckand changerooms are all "in a state where they need a full uplift."

Now,theuniversity will comb through its books to try and come up with the money for repairs.

"We've gotfour or five months to start to do planning around where we can possibly seek funding," saidBradshaw, adding the university has numerous other financial concerns and maintenance requirements to take into account.

"It's going totake some careful thought as to how we can position us to try and secure funding, either internally or externally."

Left high and dry

Without the Grenfellfacility, swimmers will still have access to the Arts and Culture Centre poolitself starting to show its age. But Jones said that will put a crunch on available pool time, such as the after-school time slots.

"There are key times when the kids have to be in the pool, so it reallyis going to put a strain on the clubs," Jones told On The Go, adding that the lack of swim time will probably mean more dry-land training, which she said could putathletes at a disadvantage in the water.

"Swimming, there's a lot to it technicallythat the kids have to learn."

Professional triathlete Scott LeDrew agrees that residentsand the universitywill suffer without thepool.

"I've travelled the world, I've never been to a university without a pool," said LeDrew.

Aquatic optimism

But LeDrew sees a bright side to the end of the era.

"Ilook at this as an opportunity to now to build a really beautiful aquatic centre," said LeDrew. "You just have to be positive. We always learned that in competitive swimming,you learn to fight to the end."

LeDrew cited the federal Liberals' promise of spending $5-billion on new infrastructure projects as a potential source of funds make that a reality.

He also hopes the province and city will be on board with the idea, in what he sees as a necessary facility to help fight the province's well-documented problems with obesity and health care spending.

"This is a chance to make people healthier," said Ledrew.