By Helaina Fioravanti
After five years of wrangling with the city, supporters of a redeveloped Plant Pool may finally see results.
“We have been lobbying city and regional councils and have now done so successfully because last year the city gave us $1 million for initial planning,” says Sally Rutherford, board member for the Plant Pool Recreation Association (PPRA).
“We have now hired the architects to begin the design, which is to be approved in the next few months.”
Along with putting the initial $1 million toward Plant Pool, this year the city has put aside $3 million for the project.
If council agrees to put the remaining proposed expense of $3.6 million into next year’s budget, then the renovations of Plant Pool, located at Somerset and Preston streets, will begin.
“I have been very active on the political side, trying to keep this project at the top of the agenda,” says Somerset Coun. Elisabeth Arnold.
“I have also been working with other councillors and people in the community to let the city know that we aren’t taking no for an answer.”
Arnold says that obtaining finances for the reconstruction has been the biggest hurdle. Between amalgamation and budget cuts, the reconstruction has been postponed more than once.
“There is a big lack of funding. The City of Ottawa has really been strapped financially,” says Arnold.
But with the city already holding $3 million in reserve, Arnold is hopeful the project will go ahead.
Plant Pool closed five years ago after being deemed structurally unsound.
Since then, Arnold and Rutherford, along with the other 70 PPRA members, have been pushing to get the facilities reconstructed.
The proposed reconstruction will incorporate part of the current 77-year-old heritage building and will include a six-lane, 23-metre pool, as well as a smaller pool for exercises and toddlers.
There will also be multipurpose rooms for meetings and fitness classes.
The newly created soccer field, basketball courts and sand volleyball court in nearby Plouffe Park will not be affected by the reconstruction.
When the city agreed to the initial expenditure of Plant Pool last year, the community committed itself to its own financial contribution, which will go toward upgrading facilities in the new centre.
The PPRA has been doing this through fundraising events aimed at the Plant Pool community.
“These events are a chance for people who used to swim in Plant Pool to come back, meet with friends and, while maybe only making a small financial contribution, they make a greater emotional commitment to the cause,” says Rutherford.
One of these events is a buffet and fundraising auction being held Friday, Oct. 26, at St. Anthony’s Soccer Club located on St. Anthony Street just off Preston Street.
The event starts at 6:30 p.m. and tickets are $35, with $15 going to Plant Pool.
“This will be a fun, early kick-off to move forward into larger fundraising,” says Rutherford.
“And it also gives the community a chance to see the progress of Plant Pool, and get involved.”
Both Rutherford and Arnold hope that when the city decides whether or not to include Plant Pool in the budget, it understands the community’s need for it.
“Plant Pool is really important in this changing and solidifying community,” says Rutherford.
“It plays a really important cultural and recreational role. It’s a significant anchor for bringing people together.”