Councillors get earful on change to wading pool
Paquette vows to grill staff on better ways to meet provincial water filtration rules
Northeast Coun. Aaron Paquette is leading a charge to keep the pool and fountains as they are at Edmonton’s City Hall.
He said he’s already heard from dozens of residents on social media and through email, people sharing anecdotes, photos and even sketches of a beloved, childfriendly space downtown. He intends to take pointed questions to administration Thursday, and if necessary, to a formal council debate in the new year.
City officials are planning to revitalize the area around City Hall this year, citing health and safety concerns in their decision to replacing the pool surface with granite and reduce the water level to just above the ankle.
It will go from 40 centimetres deep to just 15 centimetres.
“People seem to care about it a lot. It’s an icon,” said Paquette, adding that many residents from his ward will jump on the train to spend an afternoon playing in the City Hall fountains.
“You can take your kids, it doesn’t cost you any money. You just play in the water, take in a festival.”
Council members say they didn’t know the full implications of the $13-million revitalization project until Postmedia broke the story Wednesday.
Paquette hopes he can convince officials to find a new solution. But time will be tight.
The city was hoping to tender the project in February or March and have it complete for the 2019 festival season. The project includes replacing the pre-cast concrete pavers around City Hall, levelling 102A Avenue and installing wooden decking in the east part of Churchill Square.
City officials have said Alberta Health regulations require a turnover rate of two hours for a wading pool. That means all the water is filtered at least once in a two-hour window. With the current 25-yearold format, the water can only be filtered every three hours.
The news evoked strong reactions on social media, with many people arguing the city should buy a better filter system if water turnover is the issue. It’s popular with daycares, summer camps and many other families.
Ward 2 Coun. Bev Esslinger, who is on the city’s child friendly initiative, said she had “a lot of questions” for officials when the issue is revisited in the new year.
“We’ve been trying to ensure that there are more child-friendly items in and around City Hall, so this seems to be going in the wrong direction,” she said.
Ward 1 Coun. Andrew Knack said he received plenty of feedback from residents, and people really want it to stay the way it is.
“Having read through (the report), there are some legitimate issues that need to be dealt with around the safety piece, but I’d rather us address those issues, then leave it as is, because it is such an attraction for our downtown and the city,” Knack said.