As readers know, Izzy gets lots of walk. This week we were walking West Windsor as we do, past Mic Mac Park and we saw this:

It can be hard to see but there are 6 or 7 teenagers in the outdoor pool at Mic Mac Park. Outdoor pools in Windsor don’t open until Saturday June 28th. I don’t encourage kids hopping the fence and swimming when outdoor pools are closed but this isn’t the first time this has happened and I doubt it will be the last.

The fact that the City closed it’s only public beach and may never be reopened means swimming options in the City of Windsor have never been more constrained. Given the $15 million price tag (plus inflation) and the lack of positioning within the capital budget to move the Sandpoint project forward, there is a question of do we need to look at other swimming options in the City of Windsor?

Why aren’t Outdoor Pools Open?

Outdoor pools have traditionally opened the Canada Day weekend and stayed open to Labour Day. This is true in many cities. Toronto opens their in two waves with a set of pools opening in Mid-June and the rest in time for Canada Day. Ironically the City of Windsor will charge you a fine if you don’t open your private pool by May 24 (they will let you keep it closed if no standing water) yet it isn’t until early/mid June they clean out their own standing water at the outdoor pools. After this is done, the pools sit, several weeks unused but at least visually (walking by the pool at Mic Mac Park most days) ready to use.

Given the excessive heat that we are now experiencing and on going debates in the community around how we handle this – AC in Schools; cooling centres and yes splash pads

Splashpads offer some reprieve but a quick search (or asking AI) show they are not a equitable cooling method. Splashpads tend to be a youth focused while not being as accessible or welcoming to adults or seniors. The proliferation of Splashpads are not an amenity in parks but they are a structurally cheaper options than pools. Lower costs due to no staff and lower maintenance. That being said there is a value from having anchor amenities in parks and activities for families, seniors, and kids in the summer that are programmed is far more equitable. This is before we even talk about climate change.

Outdoor pools are constantly on the budget chopping block! Dating back to the budgets of 2015, 2016 etc. each year closing outdoor pools has been slated as a target for potential of budget savings. In 2025 the “Not Recommended” Budget had items 2025-0236 – Closure of Mic Mac and Central Pools; 2025-0237 – Closure of Atkinson Pool; 2025-0228 – Closure of Remington and Riverside Pools and 2025-0229 – Closure of Lanspeary Pool.

Ironically, for the last 5 years all of the outdoor pools have come in under budget.

The Parks and Recreation Master Plan called for the closing of several outdoor pools over time and replacing them with splash pads and wading pools in the future as they reach the end of their lifecycle. Removing more amenities from neighbourhoods at the alter of keeping taxes low. We have returned to pre-pandemic levels of life guard training and are now operating the money losing Adventure Bay more regularly. This means that we like have the staff for a couple of additional shifts at our outdoor pools in June!

What’s the Solution?

With the only public beach in the City is now potentially permanently closed, a broader discussion around swimming in the City should occur before massive capital investments are fast tracked – maybe we should look at the future of our outdoor pools. Rather than threatening to cut them each year, at a time where young people are struggling finding work, the City employing students a few extra weeks each summer and fall is actually a good investment in our local economy.

Putting more programming into the outdoor pools, using them as a platform for community engagement, leveraging them as anchors for other events in parks. According the City’s own data we have run a surplus on our outdoor pools for the last five years, what if we reinvested that into more hours and lower fees to increase usage? Why not partner with Public and Catholic Board and let the outdoor pools get used the last week of school during the day? What if on Fireworks night in June, pools were open for late night swims?

Kids shouldn’t hop the fence to swim, or swim unsupervised, but it is also unfair to have a public amenity sitting unusable because we haven’t bothered to think about how we could use it.