By Ben Campbell
They may not have a pool to swim in, but at least there’s a park to play in.
Thanks to several community-based groups, Plouffe Park at Somerset and Preston streets has been given a new lease on life. The groups spent the summer sprucing up the park that surrounds the condemned Plant Pool.
Plant Pool has been closed since 1996 after it was declared structurally unsound, and is currently surrounded by boardings. The city has yet to allocate any money for the $6-million transformation of the 74-year-old pool into a new aquatic complex, although it has declared this to be the priority capital project.
“Waiting for the city would have left the community with a derelict building and a pretty useless park,” said Sally Rutherford of the Plant Pool and Plouffe Park Recreation Association, one of the groups currently working on improving the site.
The city gave the groups a self-improvement grant of $7,500, funds that were supposed to be matched by fund-raising. The community has raised almost $4,000 from donations, garage sales and a benefit dinner, and will continue to work towards its fund-raising goal of $1 million with another fund-raiser Nov. 14. Many businesses from the neighbourhood have donated items such as sand and sod, and even more people have turned out to work.
“It’s taken a lot of time and physical labour,” said Ida Henderson, a community volunteer.
But the work has been extensive, Henderson said. The boardings around the pool have been painted with murals by several area schools and community groups. A quad basketball structure was installed in the place of an old baseball diamond, and a sand volleyball court replaced a tennis court.
“It is the community commitment that convinced me of the importance of this project,” said Somerset Coun. Elisabeth Arnold. “Part of the staff recommendation for the 1998-99 budget is to put aside $2 million for the project.”
However, the budget will not go to council before December, at which time significant changes could still be made. With the city’s debt of $175 million, many doubt the city has the will, or the funds, to make the project work.