MONTREAL – When the heat hits hard in a Montreal summer, it’s always a welcome idea to take a plunge in a neighborhood pool – but that option isn’t always so easily available at this time of year.
Lasalle resident Alexandra Corbu and her son Andrew were looking for some relief from the heat at their local pool on Tuesday, only to find out that it is already closed.
“It’s really hot and Andrew was waiting for this moment – and it’s not going to happen today,” she said.
“We wanted to go swim. We were waiting for an hour to get here, but we found out it’s not going to be open. The season is done.”
Although some pools do stay open til Labour Day, many Montreal pools have closed up shop.
In Lasalle, six out of the seven pools are closed.
“No pools were supposed to be open this week,” said Jessica Richard, the administrator of the Installation Aquatique of Lasalle.
“But with the hot weather and people who had ped days, we decided to open at least one pool.”
The Parc Lacharite pool is still open until the end of the week, much to the delight of some neighborhood kids.
“It’s cold and I like that,” said Malik Bouchard.
He, his mom and his sister have been looking for a place to cool off for a few days.
“It’s really hot and the kids are starting to school on Thursday. We’ve been looking for pools since yesterday,” said Malik’s mother, Annie.
“Everything is closed as of Sunday night.”
The back to school frenzy is one of the main reasons that it’s hard for pools to stay open.
The majority of pool employees return to class for Cegep and high school.
There are also other issues at play as well.
“There’s also a bunch of water quality problems at this time of the season,” said Richard.
Lack of pool access is a problem for Nancy Petosa, who runs a daycare in NDG.
She tries to bring the kids to the pool as much as possible.
She admits it’s tough when the weather is hot, but there is no local pool to go to.
“We do a sprinkler in the backyard for them,” said Petosa.
“We fill up water bottles and pierce holes in the caps and squirt each other, we find ways, you know.”
If finding an open pool in your area is proving difficult, you can always try a Montreal area beach.
Make sure to check the water ratings first though, because after rainfall water quality can vary quite a bit.
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