$24.7 million in funding for new aquatic centre
“This is definitely going to get back what we lost and then some. This is not the revival of the Grenfell pool.” Jim Parsons Corner Brook mayor
CORNER BROOK — It wasn’t done in typical announcement style, but Corner Brook Mayor Jim Parsons will take the news any way he can.
On Friday morning Parsons participated in a Zoom call that saw the announcement of $24.7 million for a regional aquatic centre to be built at Grenfell Campus in Corner Brook.
On the call with him were Premier Dwight Ball, Federal Infrastructure and Communities Minister Catherine Mckenna, Long Range Mountains MP Guide Hutchings, Grenfell Campus vice-president Jeff Keshe, Corner Brook MHA and Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne MHA and Municipal Affairs and Environment Minister Derrick Bragg, .
This project will involve a costshared investment between the three levels of government with $5 million coming from the city, $7.1 million from the federal government and the remaining $12.6 million from the province.
“We’re over the moon, obviously, this a big deal for the city, said Parsons not long after the news broke through social media.
The need for the centre is something that a regional advisory committee started working on shortly Grenfell closed its pool in the spring of 2016.
Along with the city, that committee included the towns of Steady Brook, Massey Drive and Mount Moriah, the Humber Community YMCA and the Corner Brook Rapids Swim Club.
The group completed some initial consultation work on building a new pool and two years ago Grenfell was brought into the mix when the idea of revitalization of its pool was broached.
Parsons said it was a very realistic way to get more facility per dollar for the region. Ultimately, it was the route the advisory committee endorsed, and the city submitted a funding proposal.
As Parsons and Keshen have both said in the past, it’s not just about reopening the Grenfell pool.
“This is definitely going to get back what we lost and then some,” said Parsons. “This is not the revival of the Grenfell pool.”
The regional aquatic centre will build on the existing structure and take in the gymnasium and include a day-care centre.
“This is going to be huge for the local economy,” said Parsons.
It also fits in with the city’s goal to work on its demographics.
“Encourage young families and provide top notch recreation facilities to attract young, people, immigrants, here,” he said.
“As well though, importantly, it supports our local university campus and it gives them a great tool to attract new students and faculty to our city. And they provide, of course, a very important economic benefit to our city. It has overarching benefits for the city and the region.”
Keshen said the announcement was “joyous.”
“Really thrilling for the community and for the region. It’s part of what we’re doing, trying to connect with our community far more. It fits in so much in what we want to do with partnerships with members of our community and to serve the community.
“This will make the place really connect to our region and it will make for our student a far more attractive place.”
He said the centre will be a shared resource.
There’s been no timeline set for the construction of the facility. Optimistically, Parson said he’d love to see something late in the year but doesn’t anticipate it would be ready to open next summer.
While the city has some preliminary concept designs, he said there’s still a lot of engineering work to be done. Figuring out the how the different community groups and how the organizational structure, how the facility will be run, also need to be worked out.