Discussions

Looks like we may be losing our last outdoor pool. It is a shame that every small town has great facilities and a city the size of Brandon has none! If you do not play cricket or soccer you are out of luck.

are you getting this information from?

The wonderful pools in the rural communities were helped by fund raising in the community. They are not all government funded. That means there is a lot of community pride in the pools so they take care of them.  
Community pools are great but hard and expensive to maintain.

Port Coquitlam, BC, pop. 63,297, 4 outdoor pools, 15,824 people per pool.  
 
Niagara Falls, ON, pop. 98,439, 5 outdoor pools, 19,688 people per pool.  
 
City of Montreal, PQ, pop. 1,780,000, 63 outdoor pools, 28,253 people per pool.  
 
Medicine Hat, AB, pop. 63,278, 2 outdoor pools, 31,639 people per pool.  
 
St. Catherine’s, ON, pop. 140,370, 3 outdoor pools, 46,790 people per pool.  
 
City of Toronto, ON, pop. 2,832,718, 58 outdoor pools, 48,840 people per pool.  
 
*Regina, SK, pop. 238,591, 5 outdoor pools, 47,718 people per pool.  
 
Hamilton, ON, pop 579,000, 10 outdoor swimming pools, 57,900 people per pool.  
 
Burnaby, BC, pop. 274,425, 4 outdoor pools, 68,606 people per pool.  
 
Surrey, BC, pop. 600,911, 8 outdoor pools, 75,113 people per pool.  
 
Saskatoon, SK pop. 347,000, 4 outdoor pools, 86,750 people per pool  
 
Winnipeg, MN, pop. 849,000, 8 outdoor pools, 106,125 people per pool.  
 
Ottawa, ON, pop. 1,070,889, 9 outdoor pools, 118,987 people per pool.  
 
Halifax, NS, popv.431,416, 3 outdoor pools, 145,472 people per pool.  
 
Calgary, AB, pop. 1,665,000, 8 outdoor pools, 208,125 people per pool.  
 
Edmonton, AB pop. 1,060,667, 5 outdoor pools, 212,133 people per pool.  
 
Vancouver, BC pop. 681,420, 3 outdoor pools, 227,140 people per pool  
 
That brings the average to around 90,000 people per outdoor pool.  
 
Just some perspective.  
 
Edited by PrimeConvoy, 2025-07-02 09:15:18

There is a lot to consider here . Rural communities are actually pretty good at taking care of themselves to provide amenities,because they know no one else will help foot the bill. They work hard, and pay hard.  
When it comes to pools in Brandon , we have to look at the most obvious problem with outdoor pools: public expense. It's a very short season , and not profit friendly. The actual money invested into construction isn't going to see much return, if any, especially because it would likely need a heated system due to the fact that weather is so sporadic, and cooler weather days won't net any income. The maintenance and staffing of the facility is another tax burden that our thrifty community won't be happy to pay for. Liability insurance isn't cheap. Outdoor pools don't have the luxury of being durable, especially with our wonderful manitoba winters causing foundation cracks. Chemical costs are high for the volume of water. Heck, even the cost of fresh water being pumped in regularly is expensive. Anf wages aren't that high, but in this economy ,expenses are ridiculous, so hiring and keeping a mandated amount of staff all the time during summer is hard, especially with the work ethic younger staff seem to have these days.  
It's just not something that this town is willing to put money into, especially now that the taxpayers are having to foot the bill for water treatment and pump transfer stations that need to be built or upgrades to the system that have been neglected thanks to poor council decisions from 20 years ago, not to mention everything that taxpayers are having to pay for with the new housing and a certain rink facility on the south end. It doesn't matter what bigger cities have, this is Brandon, we are a standalone city with pockets we don't empty very often. Everyone wants everything, but they want someone else to pay for it. Always.  
 
Edited by Mr E Of The Century, 2025-07-02 13:15:44

New single detached housing starts are at an all time low, and the City is now charging development charges for each newly built housing unit (aka home, duplex, apartment, row house, etc.) or virtually anything that increases demand to an area (be it sewer, traffic, drainage, etc.) a fee that wasn't around 10 years ago. So, that new housing you are talking about is starting to pay for itself, and is less of a burden on the tax payer than it has been in the past...just ask any builder, I'm sure they will give you their opinion on Development Charges.