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HISTORY: WADING POOLS ACROSS THE CITY. PLANS, 2007
Mike Schreiner , the manager of construction for Parks, Forestry and Recreation, sent along the citywide wading pool REPAIRS planning schedule for the next ten years. Fascinating reading! City Council approved $565,000 to repair four wading pools in 2007, and then $500,000 in each of the following four years, for 19 more wading pools. The schedule is about a year behind, but moving along.
Not all the proposed repairs are structural – for $55,000 a wading pool can get spruced up with new grass and a sign, or (e.g. at Masaryk wading pool) repainting of the pool surface and a new sign. One thing that’s not on the list for any wading pool is provision for shade (i.e. tree planting). It also looks as though the plan didn’t involve consultation with recreation staff who run wading pools, and that needs to change.
Here is our contribution to this project. Locally, the pools that have been renovated already are Dufferin Grove, Christie Pits, Bellevue, and West Lodge. Soon to come are the Grange and Dovercourt wading pools. Here is some commentary on what works and what needs improvement. Dufferin Grove details are here.
CHRISTIE PITS WADING POOL
Christie Pits after its renovation
A fun new sprayer at the side
Christie Pits wading pool was also renovated this year. It kept its central platform but got new paving, some plumbing improvements and a fun new water-spray feature. The budget for this renovation was $190,000. We don't know the final total.
The water turn on is still in an open pit, but it's a simple handle
The turn-off is still the heavy crank in an open pit.
The narrow-gauge filling pipe in the centre platform has stayed the same, so the pool still takes an hour and a half to fill. But the water spray feature in the centre has been fixed, and new side sprayers have been added. They're fun and popular.
However the cement/plastic coating is somewhat slippery. A community artist painted a labyrinth on the pool surface right after the renovation was done. At first the park supervisor said the labyrinth was making the pool slippery, and it would be have to be sanded off before the pool could be used.
The labyrinth remains, and the wading pool did open anyway. Its slipperiness seems to be cause by the new coating material, not the labyrinth paint. The same problem is at the other newly resurfaced pools.
The pool has very little shade and all the trees are set well back, so that they will supply little shade even when they get bigger.
BELLEVUE WADING POOL
Bellevue wading pool has new sufacing and a labyrinth too
This turn-on valve is also an improvement
The new pool surfacing here is also more slippery than the old cement surface. Otherwise the pool is the same -- the centre platform is still there from before, with two spouts for filling. A neighbourhood artist has recently come and added a labyrinth here too.
The deep pit is still there, but the valve to turn on the water is a different design -- only one turn is needed to start the water flowing (not 30 turns like the old mechanisms). The staff say it's much easier than before.
The budget for this pool was $180,000. There are no shade trees mentioned in this budget, but the wading pool is quite unprotected from the sun.
WEST LODGE WADING POOL
new surfacing on a small wading pool
new cover for the pit, and new water fountain
The budget for this renovation was $110,000. The wading pool is quite small and somewhat out of the way. It's often empty but is sometimes used by day camps. The pool has the same new covering as the other renovations, a new metal cover for the pit, a new water fountain, and a low cement wall at one side that seems to have no mechanical function.
The wading pool staff person was unwilling to show us the inside of the pit, but he said it was easy to turn on.
GRANGE WADING POOL
Grange wading pool
a better mechanism?
This wading pool is up for renovation in 2009, at a budget of $190,000. It is a newer pool, with a much safer and easier water mechanism. The pit is still there but the covers have been weighted with cement. What this means is that larger problems involving pit access (for the plumber) can only be addressed by renting a small crane. The staff say that the turn-on works fine, but one of the three filling spouts is not connected, and also the drain is too small and so draining takes a long time. The pool surface has some superficial cracks but there's no sign of leaking.
The pool has no trees nearby to provide shade for the bathers.
FRED HAMILTON WADING POOL
the seams have been permanently closed
This wading pool gets so little use that it actually has grass growing around the rim. At better-used wading pools, all the little feet soon trample down the grass. It's a good pool though, because the city staff have sealed the seams, in a way that they say is cheap -- several thousand dollars per pool compared to the much more expensive plasticized coating put on for the new renovations. They also say that it holds, over some years. If true, why was this cheaper, better way not used for the more recent wading pool renos?