Cranbrook residents looking to bring back local pool hours

A group of Cranbrook residents are looking to bring back local pool hours after the City made cuts earlier this month.

One resident, Yvonne Brien, has been an early bird user of the Western Financial Place Aquatic Centre for the past seven years. 

“I’m six months post-op of knee replacement surgery,” said Brien. “My activities in the pool have been vital to my rehabilitation, and I’m still rehabilitating.” 

She joins a small but tight-knit group of early risers comprised of other working folk, seniors, and rehabilitating patients, all of whom help to start her busy workday as a school teacher. 

“It’s my health and wellness. It’s my sanity.” 

Cutbacks on money and community

Starting on March 31, Brien’s group could only meet every Tuesday and Thursday. The City has scaled back pool hours to open at 8:00 a.m. and close from noon to 4:00 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. 

“We looked at our usage stats and determined that these were the quietest hours of the aquatic center,” said Trevor Thors, director of recreation and culture at the City of Cranbrook. “It only made sense to attempt the pilot project using the quietest times to help streamline operations, cost efficiencies, and try and maximize the pool usage.” 

In February, Thors told Rewind Radio News the change was part of a pilot project that looks at revenue increases or expense decreases in different recreation programs. 

“We are looking at having the ice in longer at Western Financial Place, and we are also looking at cutting some hours at the Kinsmen during the weekdays[…] and be it that they’re all pilot projects, it’s to really gather a sense of if they’re going to work for the community or not.” 

But Brien says the community was given little notice or consultation. After submitting two delegation requests to Council, she adds that the group was told to voice concerns by writing a letter instead. 

“In my opinion, asking us to write letters takes the human component out of this issue. Now we become a piece of paper that is very easy to ignore,” she said. “Hard to ignore a human being that’s standing in front of you going, ‘Hey, you’ve impacted me negatively.’”

A survey on the pilot pool hours is available through Western Financial Place until June 15, though Brien’s passionate group of pool users hopes to speak with Council before then.

“I love seeing these people every morning and saying hi, and I’m going to miss them,” said Brien. “Short of going to register in a hotel and using a hotel pool, there are no other options for [early] swimmers in town.”