St. Boniface residents make final attempt to save community pool

In a last-ditch effort to save Happyland Pool, the South St. Boniface Residents Association is taking matters into its own hands, hoping to raise enough funds over the next three months to change city council’s decision.

While the Eldon Ross Pool and Windsor Park outdoor pool will stay open for at least two more summers, Happyland Pool is still expected to be washed out.

The association’s president says the decision was frustrating, especially since they had over 2,300 signatures.

“The people shouldn’t be punished because the city did not budget for these pools, and there are lots of ways they can save the money and put money towards this pool,” said Teresa Cwik.

“It’s such a small amount in the big scheme of things and considering the pool doesn’t have any major damage or anything to it, why would you demolish it? It costs more to demolish than it would to keep it open for that year.”

Cwik says they are still fighting to keep the pool open by asking for three months to raise roughly $80,000-$100,000, as data averaged over 2019, 2022, and 2023 show that out of nine pools in Winnipeg, Happyland has the lowest operation cost at $83,000.

“We have sent them a letter asking them not to do anything that would be a deterrent to our fundraising campaign and give us a chance to save the pool,” said Cwik.

Saint Boniface Coun. Matt Allard says he is awaiting a response from the public service on a timeline for when Happyland Pool is expected to be demolished.

“For Happyland Pool, operational costs over four years amount to $328,000, with deferred maintenance projected at $3.6 million over a decade. If another level of government or a third party were able to provide funding to continue the operation of Happyland Pool, I would take that offer to council.”