The closure of two public Calgary swimming pools is leaving some groups that rely on them in tough situation, as they have to figure out a new place for their teams to practice.
The city announced on Monday that pools in the Inglewood and Beltline communities will see their time come to an end on Jan. 1, 2020. The closures come as part of widespread cuts that followed council approving $60 million in budget cuts last month.
“I think the initial reaction was shock and wondering what we are going to do with our program at the Inglewood pool,” Karen Hurley with Special Olympics Calgary said.
The Special Olympics program in Calgary sees 60 novice athletes practice at the Inglewood pool each year. Monday’s announcement was a difficult pill to swallow for organizers.
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Now, Hurley and the rest of the Special Olympics organizers must compete with other swim clubs to find a new location to house their athletes for training in 2020 and beyond.
“Hopefully something gets resolved soon so we can get our program up and running,” Hurley said.
The #SaveYYCPools petition is looking to gain the attention of city officials in hopes they see the importance of funding and supporting recreation centres and pools in Calgary. It had more than 1,100 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.
Both the Inglewood Aquatic Centre and Beltline Aquatic and Fitness Centre have been community staples for some time, with the Inglewood centre being built back in 1963, and the Beltline centre opening in 1954.
The city said as of Tuesday, there are no plans for what they plan on doing with the sites once both centres have been closed.
From now until the closure in the new year, hours of operation for both pools are not expected to be affected.