Friends of Wascana Pool Submission for DESIGN REGINA Ideas Fair Oct 25th 2011
A Renewed Wascana Pool
Why this is our Vision A Renewed Wascana Pool…
• Should be a Swimming Pool
– A competitive Olympic size 50 metre pool • would make Wascana Pool a viable venue for competitive team swim meets and other race events
• would draw visiting swimmers and their families to the most beautiful part of the city
• Would permit swim training, race training, long distance fitness, and leisurely recreational lswims
• We would recommend that Wascana Pool focus on swimming as an activity in and of itself
A Renewed Wascana Pool…
• Should be a accessible to all: – A second warmer pool with beach entry for children, aquasize, seniors who suffer from arthritis, and people who do not like cooler water
– A diving tank for diving competitions, water polo, syncronized swimming, and deep water workouts – A toddler’s pool, with a clear safety fence, would complete the inclusive swim package, so that Wascana Pool could truly be an accessible swim experience, for ages 1‐100 years.
A Renewed Wascana Pool…
• A sustainable and ‘Green’ Outdoor Pool
– We would like to suggest that an alternative to the chlorinated water treatment system be used, when this 64 year old pool is replaced. • Options that should be explored, and that are used by other pools around Canada/ internationally include ozone with ultraviolet light, or salt water systems. – ‘Green’ technology is now well developed, and cost‐
savings could be made by the inclusion of a solar‐powered hot water system to heat the pool and provide hot water for the showers. • In this area we could lead the way as an example for green technology for swimming pools around the country!
A Renewed Wascana Pool…
• Offer an extended Outdoor Swim Season
– Many people only swim outdoors, so the outdoor swim season is especially precious. • Our demographics and our patterns of pool use are changing.
– Because winters in Saskatchewan are so long, we should take advantage to fully enjoy all good weather, and to exercise outside.
– It is more sustainable and cost‐effective to USE a facility for a suitable season; it is heart‐breaking to see a pool sit empty while the weather is fine. – Because the weather in September has been really warm lately, we ask that the City be flexible in the closing date for the outdoor pools
Best Case Examples
• London Fields Lido, London UK
– An 18‐year campaign by the London Fields User Group saved this 1932 50‐metre lido from demolition. Closed in 1986, this refurbished pool reopened in 2006. It is London's only 50‐metre heated (25°c) outdoor pool. Located in London Fields Park, Hackney, to serve East London residents, it is open all year round!
– Plans for a retractable roof are underway.
– Accessible to all, it has a pool hoist, ramp access, disabled facilities and wheelchair access to the pool
• Queen Elizabeth Pool, Edmonton
– After two decades of advocacy, lobbying and fundraising, this 1922 pool was redeveloped into a 6‐lane, 25‐metre pool with a zero depth entry.
– Amenities include children's spray park, sun deck, universal access change room (a family change room) with private individual and family/disabled change cubicles • Kits Pool, Vancouver
– Canada’s longest pool (137m) and Vancouver’s only heated salt water pool situated on Kits Beach with views of the ocean, the mountains, and the skyline of Vancouver’s West End.
– To accommodate every type of pool‐goer, the pool is divided into three sections: a shallow section for families and small children, a middle section for lap‐swimmers and exercisers, and a deep end for more casual adult and teen bathers.
– Opens Victoria Day
– Extended summer season this year, due to good weather in Sept!
London Fields Lido
London, England
Queen Elizabeth Pool
Edmonton
Kits Pool Vancouver
Kinsmen Water Park Prince Albert
•
Morning lane swims (5‐8 am weekdays, 8‐10 weekends), and noon hour lane swims: $60 season pass
. Vibrant
• A vibrant city is full of healthy happy and well‐exercised people!
• Life‐long exercise is known to improve mental performance and physical health. People who are mentally and physically stimulated perform tasks well.
• Daily exercise maintains or improves fitness, reducing health care costs. Disability and disease is preventable by good nutrition and physical activity.
• Our happiness quotient will be higher, our health costs lower, and our productivity enhanced. • Happy, healthy workers are the key to creating a vibrant, prosperous, and successful city. If our citizens are vibrant, our city is vibrant!
Inclusive
• Has space for lane swimmers, improved access (beach front entry) for toddlers and seniors, and temperature ranges that suit all. • Outdoor swimming is inclusive of all ages and all levels of physical capability
• Swimming is a full body low impact activity, good for all bodies and all ages. • Water exercise can help to heal and rehabilitate after injuries or surgical operations.
• Outdoor swimming stimulates the body and soothes the mind – truly an inclusive full body exercise! Attractive
• Wascana Pool is Regina’s best kept secret. Wascana Pool is gorgeous!! • A pool, as all Caribbean holidays show, is key to a relaxing holiday. We have this here in our own Wascana Park!!! • The potential is there for other people to discover Wascana Pool, and to experience Regina as their dream holiday destination.
Sustainable
• Working with what we have here in Regina ‐ long hours of sustained sunlight ‐ gives us the potential to use natural resources to heat the water in an outdoor facility via solar panels.
• Regina also has the potential to draw upon the expertise of its residents who bring to the table an eclectic mix of engineering skills and enthusiastic ideas to make sure the new Wascana Pool is ecologically and environmentally sound.
• An example to other outdoor pools around the country and internationally in how to develop sustainable recreational facilities, and how to redevelop Heritage swimming pools.
Community
Coming together to support our fellow swimmers – Summer 2010
Harmony
• We swim for Health, Happiness and Well‐Being. • We love to swim outdoors at Wascana Pool in the tranquility of nature, with sun, dappled shade, and birdsong.
• Wascana Pool is blisss! We swim, we smile, we breathe deeply, we enjoy our city to the fullest: we luxuriate in living
in the city in summer, the nicest time of the year.
• Peaceful beauty calms the mind, igniting creativity, harmony, and the imagination, expanding our sense of humanity.
• Wascana Pool is in the centre of our city, close to downtown. A refreshing noon hour swim for workers allows us to enjoy a summer day, even when not on holidays!
• Happiness (inner harmony) is a worthwhile goal to pursue and to embrace, both as individuals, and as a society, in a city. Opportunity
• A renewed Wascana Pool would make Regina an exemplary model for outdoor aquatics, for civic recreation and national aquatic competitions.
• The potential is to develop this pool for the health and well being of all Regina’s citizens, young and old, now, and into the future. • The opportunity for everyone to engage in daily exercise and maintain or improve fitness levels has the potential reduce health care costs
• We would be renewing the Heritage and vision of Regina’s founders, who created a lake for swimming, boating, skating, and… for beauty.
Who We Are
Save Wascana Pool
Hommage à Wascana Pool