As the City of Lethbridge continues to reopen its recreational facilities, residents will be able to enjoy the pool amenities at Nicholas Sheran Leisure Centre once again starting Monday, with registration for swimming lessons beginning Tuesday.
“We’re going to have the same programs that we have pre-COVID(-19) — the difference that you’re going to see is the COVID(-19) precautions we have in place to mitigate risk,” said Brad Pack, the general manager for Recreation Excellence with the City of Lethbridge.
As guidelines continue to be updated by the Alberta government, the Recreation Excellence team says changes will continue to be made at all pools managed by them.
“We’re excited from a city standpoint to be able to open more facilities for the public,” said Robin Harper, general manager of recreation and culture with the City of Lethbridge.
“I know it’s been difficult for the citizens and the users not having these opportunities to get out and participate, so we are very excited to be getting closer to getting all of our facilities back open again,” Harper added.
There will be a 60-person capacity and some changes residents should expect to see include:
- A limited number of lockers available for use.
- Showers will only be available as people enter the pool. Guests are asked to refrain from showering after their swim.
- Hot tubs and saunas are now open with capacity limits.
- Public swims are no longer required to pre-book a swim time.
- Limited swims such as lane swimming and fitness classes must be registered for online.
- Masks must be worn by patrons in common areas of the facility and physical distancing will be enforced.
- Spectator areas will remain closed.
“We’ve reduced our capacity for lessons as well as our other swims and the young levels — preschool through to Swim Kids 4 — have parents that have to participate as instructors socially distance,” Pack said.
The pools at the YMCA in Lethbridge have been open for about two months now, with the next step being the reintroduction of the hot tub and saunas. However, officials don’t have a firm date for when that will happen.
City officials said Fritz Sick Pool is slated to reopen in late October.