Funding announcement for Renfrew rec centre has some asking ‘where is the pool?’

By Bruce McIntyre

Where is the pool?

That was the question on the mind of several residents in the Town of Renfrew after council members, alongside Catherine McKenna, Canada’s minister of infrastructure and communities, and John Yakabuski, the local MPP, jointly announced $16-million to upgrade and expand the town’s Mateway Activity Centre.

The 76,500 square foot expansion includes an Indigenous Cultural Centre, an NHL-sized ice surface, an elevated walking track, a fitness centre, a regulation-sized gymnasium, multipurpose rooms, administrative offices and lease space.

The expansion will allow the centre to improve access to cultural infrastructure and better meet community needs through enhanced recreational facilities. With the federal and provincial governments contributing $6,440,000 and $5.3-million, respectively, and the town adding $4.2-million for the project, it signaled a future recreation complex that will evolve into a multi-use community hub. 

But it was the absence of some type of indoor aquatic centre that lit a social media firestorm just hours after the April 19 announcement.

The comments section of various local Facebook pages regarding the infrastructure announcement for the 33-year-old recreation centre soon became filled with hundreds of residents upset that more than 50 years of lobbying and fundraising for a pool was officially over.

The ongoing debate as to whether to build a pool dates back to the 1960s, when a small group of residents organized a fund raising campaign in support of a pool. Several Facebook postings from longtime residents talked about donating, and questioned what ever happened to that money. Most pointed to the rising number of seniors and therapeutic benefits of a pool, while others said it will attract young families to the area and that is why they donated to the cause.

Trish Homsma Spence was one of hundreds who posted on an Ottawa Valley newspaper’s site and her series of questions pretty much sums up the defeatist attitude of longtime supporters.

“Yes…so where is that money,” she asked. “Went to other projects I assume. Shameful as it was raised for that specifically.”

She later added, “Pool…but never going to happen. My Mom raised funds in the 70's (whatever happened to that $$). She went to Arnprior to swim all the time waiting. She has since passed and still no pool. For a fast expanding town you should seriously consider it. A lot of people would benefit.”

Although it appears on social media that those not in support of a pool outnumber those in favour, within the ranks of the opposed is a faction advocating for a second ice pad to meet the scheduling demands during hockey season.

The second ice pad versus an aquatic centre sometimes pits neighbour against neighbour. Although not always talked about, the issue somehow always ended up as an election talking point every three years.

Perhaps Jen Fiebig best summed it up when she wrote, “We probably don't need a pool or a second ice pad, but I love the gym & walking track ideas. If we keep debating the pool & ice pad argument, we'll never have anything!”

Councillor Tom Sidney has been the chair of the town’s recreation committee since first elected in 2014 and when contacted in regards to this story, he said he was limited in what he could discuss as the town’s recreation department was in the process of issuing a media release on this subject. He did however express his personal frustration and disappointment that a good news announcement about one of the largest infrastructure projects in the town’s history was being overshadowed by this topic.

Due to the large response on social media, the town’s recreation department was tasked with preparing a report outlining a timeframe of the issue and issued a brief statement.

“We understand people have questions about why the municipality isn't getting a pool next year” the release read. “Staff are working on a fact sheet about the history of bring a pool to Renfrew and we hope to have it available soon. We believe this will answer many of the questions we have seen posted on community pages.

“We were in the archives today and have been sorting through information from as far back as the '60s. It's going to take us some time – we want to be sure you get all of the factual information available.”

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