REGINA – After close to three months since the Regina Qu’appelle Health Region issued an air quality advisory for the Lawson Aquatic Centre, the city now has a plan for how it will fix the problem.
Mayor Michael Fougere announced on Friday morning that the city is shelling out $1.5 million from a reserve fund to fix the air quality issue. The money won’t impact the city’s 2014 budget.
The funding boost comes after user groups expressed frustration over the length of time it’s taken for the city to commit to a permanent solution.
Reports of swimmers getting began to surface following a mechanical failure last March.
“I understand the frustration because we frankly would not want the situation to be here anyway,” said Mayor Michael Fougere. “That all being said, we acted as quickly as we possibly could. We have had interim measures that have reduced the problem but not eliminated it.”
The city hired two consulting firms and those reports have recently been made public.
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The renovations will include installing a UV filtration system meant to neutralize the chloramines in the water. The city is also investing in a source-capture system, which will suck contaminants off the surface of the water and bring in fresh air.
Most of the swimmers who have been getting sick were members of the Regina Optimist Dolphins Swim Club (RODS) and its president has been outspoken on the issue.
“We’re over the moon right now. We couldn’t be happier with the amount of money that they’re committing to this and the scope of fixes,” said Nick Egarhos, president of the club. “It’s certainly everything that we were looking for and more.”
The mayor said the renovations will be completed by September and most of the major work will be done during the summer shutdown.
The timeline is a bit of a disappointment for the RODS.
“September is a long way away. A year and a half in this situation,” said Egarhos. “We won’t be able to hold swim meets if they can’t implement any of these solutions until September.”
The health advisory might also not be lifted in time for the North American Indigenous Games, meaning the swimming events will have to be held elsewhere.
Event organizers said they are working on an alternative plan and will have further details next week.
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