麻豆视频

Oxbow will be opening its outdoor pool soon.

With Phase 4.1 of the Re-Open Saskatchewan Plan now underway, the outdoor pools are allowed to get back to operating while following the regulations. However, when the good news came, most facilities weren鈥檛 ready to open instantly.

鈥淲e are at the point where we are filling the pool right now. That鈥檚 a good head start because it takes a few days to do that,鈥� said Oxbow community development officer Tami Scott last Thursday.

鈥淏ut there are quite a few guidelines around what we can have open in the pool building. For example, the change rooms won鈥檛 be open, so the people will have to come to the pool dressed in their bathing suits, they won鈥檛 be able to change.鈥�

They are limiting the change room access as much as possible. There are also a few decisions that have to be made around swimming lessons.

鈥淲e have to maintain social distancing during swimming lessons. The instructors can鈥檛 get in the water with the swimmers and help them out. So for younger swimmers, if we do decide to go ahead, it would be parents-assisted. That鈥檚 a new and unusual step,鈥� said Scott.

The areas around the pool will have to be regularly sanitized. Swimming aids will have to be wiped down after every single use, which will impact the number of staff they鈥檒l have to have on duty.

The Town of Oxbow is still working on regulations to make sure that they are covering all of them and have all of them in place before the public health inspector comes out to issue a licence.

鈥淒epending on when we can get the public health inspector out, we are aiming for the July 3 opening, but it won鈥檛 be before that,鈥� said Scott.

She added that if not for the pandemic, their season would be about two weeks longer with the pool opening in the middle of June.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not cut short as much as you might think,鈥� said Scott.

Even though the season won鈥檛 be much shorter, the changes this year brought will affect them financially. Outdoor pools are seasonal, they take quite a bit of money to run but don鈥檛 make much. So places that run them usually come up short on budgets, and fundraisers are a big part of their sustainable operation.

鈥淔undraisers are a huge factor in keeping pools in the black,鈥� said Scott.

鈥淥ne big fundraiser that we usually run to support the swimming pool is Lobster Fest, and that would have been held this (past) weekend. And of course, that鈥檚 cancelled because of COVID.鈥�

The cancellation of the big fundraiser significantly impacted them, but since the Oxbow swimming pool opened just last summer, they didn鈥檛 want to lose a year right away and decided to go ahead this year despite all the challenges.

鈥淲e have enough money in savings to offset what will be for sure a deficit year,鈥� said Scott.

For updates on opening date, people can check the Town of Oxbow or the Oxbow & District Recreation Board Facebook pages.