Swim club suffers financially over pool air problems

REGINA – Months after the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region issued an air quality health advisory for the Lawson Aquatic Centre, there remains no resolution. And the lack of action has meant a financial squeeze for the programs that rely on the facility.

“We have to travel more to attend swim meets so the club gets their training in. So, the net result is we are looking to be in the red by the end of the year – significantly,” said Nick Egarhos, president of the Regina Optimist Dolphin Swim Club.

Specifically, the club may be out $50,000 dollars by the end of the year.

Last year, RQHR issued an advisory warning people to avoid intensive activity at the facility.

Meanwhile, the city hired two consultants to figure out what the problems are.

“It is a 40-year-old facility. The mayor has committed to implementing the consultant recommendations, but the city’s been sitting on those consultant recommendations for weeks,” said Egarhos.

Mayor Michael Fougere says he’s working with officials to fix the issue right away.

“That’s our top priority: is to make sure this is safe and people can use it. We expect to have the consultants’ report and our response to that in the coming days,” said Fougere.

“We’ve acted very responsibly, and I think very quickly, and expedited the process given what we know, and it’s a very complex issue, to understand why it’s happening, if it was a straightforward issue, we would have been able to resolve the issue much earlier.”