The City of Windsor is getting ready to open its new $3 million swimming pool at Lanspeary Park.
The 5,200-square-foot pool on Langlois Avenue will be open to the public on Saturday, June 29.
The pool has been out of service since the summer of 2022, after city staff noticed the liner needed to be replaced.
In July 2022, members of council from the previous term approved roughly $3 million to rebuild the pool, with the work beginning in June 2023.
Mayor Drew Dilkens says the original pool was the oldest in the city, built in 1950.
Dilkens says the new pool is barrier-free.
"For people with mobility restrictions or people who have age-related issues that they have to contend with," says Dilkens. "We know aquatics is beneficial; things like aquafit are beneficial for people in that age group as well. So you'll see a lot more activity at this pool plus the return of regular swim lessons, which haven't happened since 2015."
Executive director of recreation and culture Jen Knights says the city expects the pool to be busy.
"It's an 'L-shaped pool' that is designed specifically so we can multi-program it and offer more than one program in the water at a time," says Knights. "It's a beach entry, which is also called a zero-depth entry, so that people can gradually get in and wade, and the pool width was designed so that we're able to section off the areas of the shallowest end of the pool."
The new pool will offer recreational swims, parent and tot programming, preschool programming, learn-to-swim programming, as well as deep and shallow aquafit classes and aquatic leadership courses.
The city will open all of its pools, except the Central Outdoor Pool, on Saturday.
The Central pool is undergoing repairs and is scheduled to open the following week, July 6.