Rocanville pool construction proceeding with aim to be open by 2025 pool season
September 9, 2024, 10:13 am
Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Work on Rocanville’s pool refurbishment is progressing with hopes to be open for the 2025 swim season.
“We’re progressing,” said Rocanville mayor Ron Reed last week. He confirmed that project drawings have been finalized.
Back on March 13, Rocanville Town Council confirmed MPE Engineering would be creating the new drawings for a wood frame building rather than the initial steel concept, at a cost of $139,960.
The decision to go with a wood frame was based on a few factors, including a lower price for the project, materials being more readily available, and a better option over steel in such a high moisture area.
In early March, a contract was signed with Copper Ridge Construction of Wapella for refurbishment of the Rocanville Aquatic Centre. Since that time, demolition work on the original building has been completed, plus any other tasks that could be done before receiving the final drawings. The most recent activities by Copper Ridge include pouring 6,000 square feet of concrete inside the structure.
“They’ve been working on the mechanical trench around the pool and working with the plumbers to do the mechanical pipe run inside the trench, getting that concrete poured,” Reed explained of recent work the contractors have completed. “That’s kind of the extent of things as of right now.”
The $4 million-dollar project was initially anticipated to be complete by the end of this year with the pool fully operational for the 2025 swim season. While Reed doesn’t think the building will be done by the end of this year, opening for the upcoming swim season is certainly an achievable target.
The ICIP grant that the town received for the construction included a condition of completion by end of 2024, however Reed says they have worked with the government to be able to retain the grant money.
“We talked to our grant people, and they’re not as willing to give us an extension as they are willing to change the scope,” Reed said. “It will just be a little bit on the paperwork side of things to redefine what the grant is, what the grant’s purpose is. Ultimately, it’s going to be a finished building over top of our existing pool, which was always the case. We won’t have to have a functioning pool by end of year, so to speak, in order to still retain the grant money.”
Reed assured that the cost of the project will not be affected, and that the town will be ready for spring programs.
The first call for tenders on the pool project went out in 2021 with the lowest bid coming in at $3.645 million.
In 2022, the town held a public referendum that sought interest in saving the exiting 50-year-old pool. Around 70 per cent of residents voted in favour—even if it meant a potential tax increase to save the building. The town was successful in receiving a $1.2 million ICIP grant from the federal and provincial governments, paving the way for a major upgrade on big ticket items such as a new exterior building, piping around the pool, liner, pool decking, mezzanine, and ventilation system plus mechanical upgrades.
Additional money has come through the annual potash tax share, the Nutrien grant match program ($9,786.25) a fundraising committee with their goal of $2.2 million, plus the Rocanville Lucky Lottery that supported the pool with a $17,800 donation last year.
