Okotoks - Deck delays new pool opening

By Laurel Nadon
Staff reporter

While Swindell’s Pool may finally be up and running again, swimmers will have to wait longer than expected to get their feet in the water at the new pool at the Okotoks Recreation Centre.
The new pool, which was originally scheduled to open in May, then August, is now expected to open in mid-to-late October.
The drypack mortar bed installed for the new pool deck areas, which provides the required slopes to area drains, has failed to bond to the structural concrete slab. The contractor is now removing and replacing the material which is expected to delay the opening of the new pool and hot tub area by a month and a half to two months.
“We’d rather have it done right and not have problems into the future,” said Susan Laurin, community services manager with the town. “It is important to the town that this situation is resolved correctly. The deck can have a life span of over 50 years. If the tile and deck would need to be replaced at any time in the future, the repair would be very costly and time consuming.”
She noted that the groups most affected by this are the winter swim club and synchronized swimming club, but that they will have Swindell’s Pool to use.
The newly renovated Swindell’s Pool may not have all the bells and whistles of the new pool, but it was definitely welcomed back by the community.
The pool closed on Feb. 1, forcing swimmers and clubs to find other waters. The pool reopened at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, July 25 to the relief of local users after months of delays.
Laurin said that their lessons have been completely full for the past week, but that the numbers are a bit low for public swimming at 50 to 100 people per session. She said this may be because people are unaware that the pool has now opened.
Groups which have already used the pool since it opened include lesson participants, public swimmers, aquasize participants, swim clubs and day camps.
“They’re very happy and excited to see the upgrades that we’ve made to Swindell’s Pool and like the new lighting,” Laurin said.
“I think everybody’s really excited that they’re not having to travel to High River or Calgary. It’s nice to have it local in their own community.”
Renovations include freshly painted walls, new lighting, new deck tile and a new UV system which means better quality water. The technology passes the water through ultraviolet rays to filter germs.
The change rooms have also doubled in size with three times the locker space and new family change rooms.
Swindell’s Pool was originally supposed to open on May 1, but this date was pushed back due to shortages in labour and materials.
Laurin, however, said that the delays were worth the final product.
“It’s exciting to be finally open and the delay is worth it when you walk in when it’s bright and the locker rooms are huge and you can see what the new pool is going to look like,” Laurin said, adding that now everyone is anxiously awaiting the opening of the new pool.
Brent Osborne, president of the Okotoks Summer Stingrays Swim Club, said that the further delays to the new pool won’t hurt the club – just as long as it’s ready for next season.
The club returned to its home waters last Tuesday with just a few weeks to go before the regular season ends on Aug. 11.
“Everybody’s happy to be back,” Osborne said, adding that the club has been swimming from Monday to Friday in High River for June and July. “It’s certainly more convenient for the parents. For the swimmers, the coaching is the key thing more than the water and they’ve still got good coaches working with them. We’re looking forward to the new pool.”
The new pool will be a six-lane competitive pool and Osborne noted that each lane is also wider than the lanes in Swindell’s Pool. There’s also a part lane on both sides of the pool so swimmers aren’t right against the wall. Osborne said that this will prevent the turbulence coming from the walls and means that no lane has an advantage. The new pool is also deeper which can mean faster times for swimmers.
The new pool comes just in time for the Summer Stingray’s 25th anniversary in 2007.
“We’re looking at the new pool and the new facilities coming on-line and looking at having a real celebration of swimming in Okotoks,” Osborne said.
Okotoks resident Judith Edwards was enjoying her second aquasize class last week since the renovated pool opened and said the water is noticeably better.
“The water is nice, it’s not salty or chlorinated,” Edwards said, adding that the change rooms are new, clean, bigger and have more showers.
Edwards had been using the pool about twice a week at the time it closed and hasn’t been swimming due to the closure.
Also as part of upgrades to the Okotoks Recreation Centre, there will be new lighting installed at Murray Arena which will make the arena two or three times brighter and is scheduled to be completed by September. The town is also adding a separate chiller for the curling rink so they can control the ice temperature and upgrading the mechanical part of the refrigeration system.

Safe at home

Amara Bell stares down a family of rubber ducks on Sunday afternoon at Swindell's Pool in Okotoks. The pool at the Okotoks Recreation Centre was recently renovated and was re-opened last week. photo by Rae Holtsbaum

Court - Girl pleads not guilty to murder

By Pamela Roth
Staff reporter

A 12-year-old girl believed to be involved in a triple homicide that shocked the province in May has pleaded not guilty to her charges.
The youth, who cannot be identified, remains in custody at the Calgary Young Offender’s centre and was not required to appear in the Medicine Hat courtroom last week to enter her plea.
She is jointly charged with her 23-year-old boyfriend, Jeremy Allan Steinke, with three counts of first-degree murder after the bodies of former Okotoks residents Marc, Debra and their nine-year-old son Jacob Richardson were discovered in their suburban Medicine Hat home April 23.
The Richardsons moved to Medicine Hat from Okotoks three years ago.
Following the news of the murders, Canada-wide warrants were issued for the arrest of one male adult and one female youth. The pair was picked up shortly before 8 a.m. near Leader, Saskatchewan April 24 without incident and charged with the Richardson murders.
After a further investigation, Medicine Hat RCMP arrested and charged a third person, 19-year-old Kacy Lancaster, with accessory after the fact of murder on suspicions of driving the pair to Saskatchewan, destroying evidence and giving a false alibi.
Lancaster, who was released on a $25,000 surety on her mother’s home, had her lawyer appear in Medicine Hat provincial court last week, but had the matter adjourned until Aug. 24 for election and plea.
Steinke, who has since been charged with disobeying a court order, has yet to enter a plea and is scheduled to appear back in court Tuesday. A date for the youth’s trial has yet to be determined.