Early May flooding could leave Weyburn without pool

Flooding caused by heavy rainfall on May 13 could leave the City of Weyburn without both of its swimming pools for the foreseeable future.

Between 30 and 60 millimetres fell in areas of southern Saskatchewan on that day. The Weyburn Leisure Centre had nearly two feet of water in its basement after the storm.

The flooding in the basement led to items like electrical equipment and pumps being significantly damaged.

“Unfortunately, all of our mechanical and pump equipment for the indoor and outdoor pool are in the basement of the building,” said Andrew Crowe, the City of Weyburn’s director of leisure services.

“At first, we were very hopeful that once we got the water out and everything dry, we would be able to fire the system back up after conducting some inspections. However, in doing our inspections, we came across some pieces of equipment with some critical damages that needs to be rectified before we can fire things back up again.”

Currently, the City of Weyburn is looking at options to get the outdoor pool ready for the season beginning June 6.

But that opening date might be wishful thinking as the city says supply chain issues could make it so both pools don’t open any time this season.

“We’re hopeful we can get something in place so we can get the outdoor pool back up and running as soon as possible,” Crowe said.

Crowe added the loss of both pools could have a major impact on the local economy.

“It’s really not a good situation for anybody. We want to get people in our pool and keep people active,” Crowe explained.

“We do have some large events coming to town this year. We’re doing everything we can so those events can happen.” Crowe added. “For a city of our size, they impact our economy and getting the pool back up and running is a priority for us as well.”