Feds, province and Town combine for $2-million revamp
Jul 02, 2009 - 11:06 AM
By Reka Szekely
AJAX -- It'll be a splashy new upgrade for the Ajax Memorial Outdoor Pool with $2 million in funding announced last Friday.
The feds, Province and the Town of Ajax governments will split the cost equally to revamp the pool located behind Town Hall and the library off Achilles Road.
"It's a great announcement for us because it's very timely," said Mayor Steve Parish. "We have one of the few outdoor pools around and we very much value it because it's really enjoyed by a wide cross-section of the people in the town, especially young people."
The money will go toward revamping the pool's deck, replacing the wading pool with a splash pad and upgrading the change rooms.
The size and depth of the pool itself will remain the same, though there may be upgrades to the plumbing.
Had it not been for the funding announcement, the upgrades would not have been in the cards, said the mayor. Instead, the Town would have focused on keeping it running with annual maintenance.
"I do not believe it was in our five-year forecast," he said. "It was something that in an ideal world you needed to do or wanted to but it just didn't have the priority as some of the other things we needed to get done, so this is a win for the Town."
Ajax-Pickering MPP Joe Dickson made the funding announcement with Oshawa MP Colin Carrie. The dollars come from a fund earmarked for recreation.
"It's important that public facilities be maintained at a high standard, and this is the Government of Ontario and the federal government's way of helping with that and at the same time putting people to work particularly in the construction-related fields," said Mr. Dickson.â?¨ Both Mayor Parish and Mr. Dickson copped to youthful adventures at the pool and pointed out its history in the community. In the 1960s, the Kinsmen Club and a group of dedicated volunteers was behind the drive to get the pool built.
"It is the first significant pool in Ajax and it's served the youth and adults well for, gosh, it's got to be a half a century," said Mr. Dickson.
Mayor Parish said the Town will now do the design work and hopefully put the project out to tender early next year. He hopes the work can be completed in 2010, though that would mean the pool would be closed that swim season.
"We hope to have the project complete by the end of the construction season in 2010 so it will be fully operational and open in 2011."
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