Salmon Arm Recreation has announced plans for the gradual reopening of the city’s swimming pool, starting with limited programming and no drop ins.
The pool is scheduled to reopen on July 13 with a small schedule of aquatics programming that includes lap lane swimming, aquafit and water running. Registration for these programs opened Monday, July 6.
The programs are scheduled to run from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, from July 13 to 24. In the afternoon, the pool will be available to user groups, including local swim clubs.
Salmon Arm Recreation programmer Donna Flatman explained strict sanitization protocols are in place to accommodate the reopening. For example, after each program the pool will be closed for one hour to allow for a thorough cleaning.
“As we get into our second week we’ll start to evaluate how the first week went and then continue on with that or make changes,” said Flatman. “Of course, we always have to be cognizant of what directions we’re getting from the health minister and other organizations that we’re responsible to in opening a public facility like this.”
Flatman said anyone wishing to participate must preregister at salmonarmrecreation.ca.
“As we move forward, after this week, we’ll probably be able to take more phone calls but right now it’s just online,” said Flatman.
Other returning recreation programs, listed in the Summer 2020 Fun Guide, include the Red Cross Babysitting Course (July 13 to 16), the Safe at Home-Safe Alone program for ages 9 to 12 (July 20) and Minor League Tennis (July 20-24), a program for ages 7 to 12, run in conjunction with the Salmon Arm Tennis Club. Registration for these must also be done online.
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With the pool reopening, Flatman stressed drop-ins are currently not welcome at this time.
“We’re opening gradual, we don’t want to just open the doors and get overwhelmed with everything,” Flatman explained. “We want to do it slow, we want to do it methodically, and as we progress, as we get more comfortable and as the COVID-19 numbers improve, then our programs will improve respectfully.”
Following the recreation centre’s closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Flatman said the pool was drained immediately to save costs. She said the downtime allowed for a thorough cleaning of the recreation facility, as well as the completion of other needed work.
“We had our gymnasium floor refinished,” said Flatman. “When most of the staff were off, our maintenance person rebuilt many of the motors and did a lot of extensive maintenance work in the basement.”
For more information about recreation programming, including times, visit the Salmon Arm Recreation website or Facebook page.