To reduce the duplication of swim programs in Moose Jaw, city hall is changing the summer hours at the Phyllis Dewar Outdoor Pool so residents can access the venue earlier.
Instead of the usual programming hours of 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., the parks and recreation department has adjusted that time to 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. This would see the outdoor pool open and close earlier in July and August, allowing the department to offer more programs while reducing similar offerings at the Kinsmen Sportsplex indoor pool.
Outdoor public swims will now occur from 10 to 11:30 a.m. — Wednesdays are free — while adult noon swims would occur from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and public swim, lessons and water workouts would occur from 1 to 7 p.m.
Families and lap swimmers can now access the outdoor pool earlier — a feature unavailable at either venue — while evening public swims can occur from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Sportsplex, eliminating duplication with the Phyllis Dewar.
City council approved the change to operational hours during a recent meeting.
Parks and rec closes the Kinsmen pool for three weeks in June for annual maintenance, with all aquatic programs and staff transferred to the outdoor pool, where a similar program is offered until June 30, a city council report explained. Starting July 1, both pools will open for eight-week programs.
Summer programming at the outdoor pool currently starts at 11:30 a.m. with an adult swim, followed by a public swim beginning at 1 p.m. With lessons held at the Sportsplex all morning, there is no public swimming available until 1 p.m. at both venues.
Traditionally, public swim times at the indoor pool — 1 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. — and outdoor pool — 1 to 8:30 p.m. — have occurred at the same time, the report said. Shifting hours at the outdoor pool to start and end earlier will allow city hall to offer more swimming opportunities and reduce doubling up.
Meanwhile, because free teen swim nights on Fridays have been poorly attended — an average of 12 swimmers attended last year — the city will include that offering in its summer youth activity program this year during regular public swim hours.
Attendance numbers and programming hours at the Phyllis Dewar Outdoor Pool during the past five years show:
- 2018: 15,476 people / 872 hours
- 2019: 14,419 people / 976 hours
- 2020: zero / zero
- 2021: 9,765 people / 609 hours
- 2022: 16,340 people / 832 hours
Meanwhile, other data shows that 31 per cent of users attend from 1 to 2 p.m.; 15 per cent attend from 2 to 3 p.m.; 10 per cent from 3 to 4 p.m.; 14 per cent from 4 to 5 p.m.; 13 per cent from 5 to 6 p.m.; 11 per cent from 6 to 7 p.m.; four per cent from 7 to 8 p.m. and one per cent from 8 to 8:30 p.m.
“The proposed recommendation provides the widest range of public swim hours between the two swimming pools and helps mitigate the safety concerns of young staff leaving the pool after dark and walking alone to vehicles,” the report said.
The document added that there are no extra costs with these changes, while there is the potential to increase revenues with morning public swim hours more available.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, June 26.
