Residents in the Town of Rocanville have stepped up as a community to save their indoor swimming pool facility from permanently closing.

After years of examining if a new building could be created, the town decided to move forward with its $4 million pool refurbishment project.

There was so much history and memories in that building so watching it come down was a little sad, but then seeing that its actually happening now made it exciting,” said Recreation Director Andrea Logan, referring to the demolition of the former Rocanville Aquatic Centre.

The town is home to one of Saskatchewan’s largest potash mines, carrying a population of under 1,000 people.

The idea for the project started about three years ago when the town started to notice structural issues within the 50-year-old building.

“We reached out to an engineer, they designed a building for us. We received a grant from the federal government and thought we would be able to do a refurbishment just with grant money,” explained Mayor Ron Reed.

However, when the tender came back higher than expected, Rocanville’s Town Council held a referendum to see if the public was interested in saving or not saving the existing building.

I think it was 70 per cent, if I remember right, we’re in favour of the pool refurbishment even at the potential increase of taxes to help pay for it,” Reed said.

The referendum happened back in spring 2022. Since then, a refurbishment committee was created to help design the structure of the new facility, in addition to a fundraising committee, which is working towards raising $2.2 million in support of the project.

“Our initial thought was we would have to increase taxes for a couple of years to get us to a different state in finances for the town,” Reed explained.

“Where we could cover the loan payment ourselves without having to impact taxes, but seeing that the project has dragged on a little bit, we’re much closer to that point now. At this point we’re thinking there’s not going to be an impact in taxes.”

A member from the town’s local swim team said having access to the indoor swimming pool during the time other community outdoor pools are closed gives youth an advantage.

“The year that we did train here, we were able to get in May 1 so we have that advantage of having that extra month as oppose to having to wait for an outdoor pool to open,” said Erica Verity-Osicki, president of the Rocanville Tiger Sharks Swim Team.

“That has a big impact on the kids if they’re in the water a whole month three to four times a week.”

Verity-Osicki said around 16 kids participate on the team. She added that without having access to a swimming pool, children and their families have to drive 30 minutes to an hour outside of town.

“The numbers dropped a little bit once we had to go outside of Rocanville,” explained Verity-Osicki.

“The Moosomin pool has been awesome with accommodating us for pool times with their existing schedule so we’ve been training there, but we did lose a few kids, I think, due to travel.”

Prior to the facility closing for construction, the community was able to offer swimming lessons throughout the year, national lifeguard courses, and Aquasize programs to people in Rocanville and its surrounding area.

“We’ve had a pool in Rocanville for 50 years. It’s obviously an old facility, but we were one of the lucky ones to see the benefits of having an indoor facility and be able to use it for things other than your outdoor swims in the summer time,” Reed expressed.

“It used to be a four-season facility and then it got to the point it was not cost effective to operate in the winter months, but we’re hoping a new facility over top of our existing pool is going to accomplish that and we’ll be able to open to four seasons again.”

Fundraising continues

The town’s rec director said one of the community’s biggest fundraisers every year is Rocanville’s Lucky Lottery.

“Our Rocanville Lucky Lottery fundraises for all of our facilities and the pool will be one of them receiving a portion of that money [raised],” Logan explained.

“Every year it depends how much money we make on the lottery. The first year we were able to give the pool around $70,000. We’re hoping this year’s lottery we’re able to give them a nice amount.”

So far, the Rocanville Aquatic Centre Fundraising Committee has raised about $640,000 to date.

One committee member said she grew up using the indoor pool and wanted to help raise funds in hopes of allowing others the same.

“It’s been a pretty dominant part of our growing up,” Kelsey Selby explained. Selby serves as the secretary for the Rocanville Aquatic Centre Fundraising Committee.

“I’ve had my birthday parties there when I was a kid, I’ve spent a lot of time in there. I would like to see my nieces and nephews be able to have the same experiences that we did, and it being open all year around would be nice to have the extra things to do in the winter time.”

The committee will be hosting a Brisket Cook-Off as their next fundraising event on June 15.