Edmonton’s city pools are seeing long lines amid hot summer weather and free admission.
Many waited outside of the Borden Natural Swimming Pool on Friday ahead of its scheduled opening at noon.
Jasmine Murphy lined up with her two sons. Murphy, who pays monthly for a pass to city facilities, said she has noticed an increase in attendance ever since the city began waiving admission.
“It is what it is,” Murphy said. “We line up like everyone else and get in there.”
Admission to pools is free again this summer after city council approved a plan to extend a pilot project. The pilot, which initially waived pool fees between July and September 2017, saw 153,000 people visit city pools during that period compared to 88,639 the year before.
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Borden Natural Swimming Pool, which is billed as “Canada’s first public, man-made, natural swimming pool,” has seen 8,964 visitors since it opened on July 11, according to the city.
“The attendance is high on the days that it is warm out, which is typical with all outdoor pools,” said Cyndi Schlosser, the facility manager at the pool. “The days that it is hot out, we are going to be busy.”
The pool uses plants, granite, rocks and active filtration to maintain water quality instead of chlorine. It has a limit of 980 visitors each day, after which the organisms can no longer adequately filter the water.
The city recommends anyone wishing to swim at any of its pools to first check online or call 311.