New Brunswick Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Bill Fraser says the province would consider extending the life of the Sir Max Aitken Pool if the City of Fredericton files a formal request.
Fredericton Aquanauts Swim Team spokesperson Chris Ramsey said he’s not getting his hopes up, but said the gesture by the province is a good sign.
“I don’t want to get too excited about this because we’ve been, this has been a rollercoaster for us for me personally for the last year, but for others, for the past nine or 10 years, so you don’t want to get too excited, but I’m encouraged. I’m very encouraged right now,” Ramsey said.
Ramsey said it’s a “smart move” by the province, especially during an election year.
READ MORE: N.B. mayor says ‘take the politics out of pool’ as closure of Fredericton pool nears
“If I were the City and UNB, I would be tripping over myself to get back to the table and take advantage of this fantastic offer by the province,” Ramsey said.
In an email statement, Fredericton Mayor Mike O’Brien said the city has had many meetings with UNB, community stakeholders and the province. He said the infrastructure minister’s statement expressing a willingness to be a partner is welcome news.
Get weekly health news
“I will be reaching out to the minister as soon as possible to discuss the idea further,” O’Brien said. “Our offer of financial support to UNB to keep their pool open remains.”
Fraser said the city needs to come up with a solution and needs to make the pool a priority. He said if the city presents the province with a viable plan to help extend the life of the Sir Max Aitken Pool until a longer-term solution was found, they would be willing to partner with them.
READ MORE: City of Fredericton and University of New Brunswick continue capital city pool talks
Ramsey said despite there being two other pools remaining in the city if the UNB pool does close in the fall, he said those pools don’t have the capacity to accommodate all the swim teams in the city.
“So you’ve got all of the city’s youth aquatic sports teams based out of Sir Max Aiken Pool, you’ve got the biggest senior citizens contingent that use a pool for therapy and rehabilitation, the other pools can’t handle us right, so this is taking out that infrastructure that supports our youth, our seniors, a large part of our fitness users and there’s no place for them to go,” Ramsey said.
READ MORE: Senior swimmers in Fredericton ask city to take the lead on pool problem
He said it would be similar to taking hockey rinks out of the city and only leave a few available for free-skates from time-to-time, leaving hockey teams without ice space.
“Every kid I think should be free to choose which path they’re going to take and aquatics is so big in Canada right now, especially given the Olympic success that we’ve had and the Commonwealth Games success that we’ve recently had as well,” Ramsey said.
READ MORE: New Brunswick mother concerned over UNB pool closure
University of New Brunswick’s vice-president and academic, Dr. George MacLean, said they have been open and willing to discuss solutions that would prevent the community from being left without a competitive pool.
“The city has announced a partnership with the YMCA and declined our offers to extend the life of the Sir Max Aitken Pool, but we would still like to explore how we can partner on this issue because we recognize how important it is for the citizens of Fredericton,” MacClean said in an email statement on Thursday.
He said on April 13, the university requested a joint meeting with the city, province and user groups.
“We’re pleased that the province and representatives from the aquatics community were willing to meet and that the province is open to offering financial support. We do hope that, by working together with all partners, we can find a solution,” MacClean said.
Comments