West end city pool reopens after Canada Day storm forced it to close

A popular pool in Ottawa’s west end reopened Monday after flash floods turned the parking lot into a river on Canada Day. CTV’s Camille Wilson reports.

The Corkstown Pool reopened on Monday after the unprecedented Canada Day storm sent flood waters through its washroom and changerooms.

The city pool located in the Crystal Beach area saw its first visitors at 1 p.m. Monday, less than three weeks after the storm.

“I was really pleased. I thought that given the severity of the flooding, I wasn’t sure if it would open at all,” said resident Sarah Arseneault, who lives in the Crystal Beach area with her family and visits the pool regularly.

Bay Ward Coun. Theresa Kavanagh said she is proud of how quickly city staff moved with completing the repairs of the parking lot to reopen.

“There were a million things going on for public works right now, but this was parks and they pulled that off. They got it done,” she said.

“By just putting in gravel, they didn’t have to pave it right away, that wasn’t necessary. It was about the accessibility to get to the pool. It was amazing.”

A program offering swimming lessons for children staying in transitional housing who wouldn’t normally get a chance to have swimming lessons will now be able to return to the pool. A special ceremony for the program was held on June 30.

The swimming lessons are named after José Burpee, a young boy who drowned. The lessons were scheduled to take place at Corkstown pool but had to be moved due to the damage.

“They had to move them temporarily Katimavik pool and they’re being brought back here because now it’s accessible again so that is fantastic,” she said.

“It’s right here in the neighborhood plus it’s accessible for the whole community. Those swimming lessons for those children were really, really important to me. I urged the city to look at that and they came through.”

The hours for the Corkstown Pool are available online.

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