Riverdale pool will be demolished, splash pad to take its place next year

Riverdale pool will be demolished, splash pad to take its place next year
Young swimmers dive into one of the city's municipal pools.

CORNWALL, Ontario – Another venerable outdoor pool in Cornwall has seen its last swimmer.

City parks manager Christine Lefebvre confirmed to Seaway News the pool in Riverdale Park, in Cornwall’s west end, will be demolished this summer.

Plans are to replace the pool with a splash pad, but that won’t happen until next year at the earliest.

Lefebvre said the reason lies in the economics of repairing a pool that is more than 50 years old.

“It’s obsolete. We can’t even get parts for it,” she said. “We’ve been trying to keep it going.”

The final straw came when it was determined a return line beneath the pool is leaking badly.

Seaway News has received calls from frustrated residents, who did not want to share their names, complaining about the decision.

But Lefebvre pointed out the city is following a plan it established in 2009 to rid itself of outdated pools and replace them with splash pads.

Two other city pools, St. Therese on Thirteenth Street and Kinsmen off of St. Felix Street, have also been closed in recent years – which was accompanied by complaints from residents in those neighbourhoods.

“The other two neighbourhoods were passionate about their pools too,” said Lefebvre.

To build a new pool in Riverdale would cost at least $800,000 – likely more – while a splash pad rings in at $350,000 and requires little operating expenditures thereafter.

The closest pool for residents in the Riverdale neighbourhood will now be St. Francis de Sales, located on Second Street between Brookdale Avenue and Cumberland Street.

Lefebvre said the replacement splash pad in Riverdale won’t be built until 2015 – subject to city council budget approval.

Share this article