Farewell Scona Pool: City to close 65-year-old facility Monday

The fight to keep Scona Pool open in Old Strathcona will soon be over, after 12 years of struggle between community members and the City of Edmonton. 

The city is closing the pool permanently on Oct. 3. 

City council voted in late August to pull the plug on the 65-year-old facility, after hearing from administration that the structural deficiencies would cost at least $6 million to fix. 

The city posted a building condition assessment report on its website last week, following a survey done of the building's exterior and interior areas in July, showing the heating plant and heat exchanger stopped working.

Most of the stalling bricks on the exterior have been fenced off from public access, the report says, but consultants recommended the entrance be blocked off as well for safety reasons. 

Elaine Solez, chair of the community group Friends of Scona Rec, said closing the pool will leave some in the lurch. 

"There are seniors with some mobility issues who don't feel they can go to another pool, they don't drive anymore, much," she said. "They feel their swimming days are over and it's very sad to hear things like that." 

Norm Shandro, now in his 80s, had been going to the pool three to five times a week for 15 years and thinks the city closing it now is poor planning.

"I am very unhappy about it closing without having some sort of replacement," he said. 

The city has suggested three alternatives: the Kinsmen Sports, Bonnie Doon Leisure Centre and Confederation Leisure Centre, all within a 15-minute drive from Scona, requiring a vehicle for most to access. 

"It is not a replacement at all," he said. "Get more people on the roads, that's all it does." 

Swimmers from Strathcona High School joined the most recent plea to keep the pool open when they spoke to council at an executive meeting at city hall Aug. 24. 

Kirby Feng, a volunteer coach with the Scona swim team for 24 years, said the city is offering alternative practice space at the Kinsmen Sports Centre, which is about 3.5 kilometres away, meaning it'll be about a 10-minute car drive or 20-minute bus ride from the school. 

He and swim captains are trying to organize carpool options for kids who don't have a way there.