The Rossland Aquatic And Leisure Centre? Hey, why not! Mayor considers grant to create four-season pool

By Andrew Bennett

Rossland may soon apply for a grant of roughly $400,000 to turn the town's pool into a four-season facility, Mayor Greg Granstrom said this morning.

"It's a possibility," he said. "We don't know if there's funding there, or if we can get it, but we've done some preliminary estimates and talked to some people who may be willing to partner."

Granstrom said it's "way too preliminary" to offer any further details, such as who the potential partners may be, but he emphasized that if Rossland is to proceed in this direction, the final decision will be for the public to make.

"Maybe the public isn't interested," he said. "We've asked if certain groups support the idea and there seems to be good support, so we'll investigate further."

The mayor himself thought the idea was "interesting."

"I think it could be more than four walls and a roof [covering the pool]," he suggested. "If we were to do it right, the walls could open to make it open air in the summer. That would be pretty neat."

This discussion comes in the wake of the municipal election when a group made Rossland's lack of a recreation agreement with Trail a top election issue, prompting the Rossland Telegraph to investigate the sordid history of the stalemate.

Until an agreement is reached, Rosslanders will continue to pay double the regular fees to use the Trail Aquatic and Leisure Centre and Haley Park. The majority of Rosslanders, however, feel that the buy-in price Trail has demanded is too high for the service provided.

"Trail's asked for $140,000 per year," the mayor said. "That could go a long way to paying for something of our own. Maybe we put some money into a facility like this and at the end of five years we've paid for it."

As for the grant, at this point Granstrom just wants “to see if it's feasible."

"Rossland fits the criteria, but that doesn't necessarily mean we'll get it. We have to apply," he said.

The idea will come to council on Dec. 19 at which point city staff will provide more detailed input into the process and the possibilities.