A pair of northern communities are pressing forward with new swimming pool complexes, meant to provide a place for fun and somewhere safe for swimming lessons.

Thompson is building what local officials say will be northern Manitoba’s biggest swimming complex once it’s built. The site of the new pool, dubbed the Thompson Regional Aquatic Centre, is next to the arena and community centre. Once finished, it will feature a six-lane, 25-metre-long pool along with a waterslide, diving board, sauna and other amenities.

The project has a $42.6-million price tag. The province will pay $10 million through different grants, while the federal government has announced another $6 million. No exact date has been announced for when it might open.

The Norplex was shut down in 2019 because of ongoing safety and structural problems. Generations of kids learned to swim there after it opened in 1977.

“I took my swimming classes there. I was a competitive swimmer there. I was a lifeguard there. I was an instructor there,” said Lyle Safronetz, the City of Thompson’s director of development and technical services.

Safronetz is one of the lead officials with the city working on the new pool build.

“The pool and the continuation of the pool here will be critical,” he said.

About 270 kilometres away, Flin Flon is building a pool of their own.

The new pool will replace the Aqua Centre. Built in 1975, the pool lasted until January 2020, when a pronounced sag in the pool’s roof led to it being shut down temporarily and then for good. That roof partially collapsed the next fall, and the building was demolished in December 2020.

The new pool will be smaller than Thompson’s and is being built on the site of the old one, with an overall cost of around $18 million. More than half of that cost has been covered by provincial and federal grants, with another chunk covered by community donations.

Like Thompson’s pool, the Flin Flon pool doesn’t have a firm opening date yet, but it is expected to open later this year.

“It’s been a long time coming. It feels, in one way, like it’s been two minutes, and in another way, like we’ve been at it forever,” said City of Flin Flon recreation director Caitlin Bailey.

A former lifeguard at the pool, Bailey has taken a hands-on role with the plans.

“I’m just really excited for the community to get to see it and come in and enjoy it. I’m a proud Flin Flonner, born and raised, and I’m overjoyed to see it in the state that it is right now.”

Bailey said some things still need to be completed, such as building up the change rooms and bathrooms, laying down tiles and other finishing touches.

“We are definitely on the end of the project cycle now,” she said.

“We’ve been on the project for quite some time — from the beginning, when it was just drawings on a piece of paper. It’s really exciting to physically stand in the building and see where everyone’s going to be swimming, hopefully soon.”

A new pool is a major project for both communities, in terms of recreation and public safety. Most of Manitoba’s 100,000 lakes are located in the north, with many around the two cities. The pools host swimming lessons year-round in a controlled environment. Flin Flon has tried holding swimming lessons in a lake near the community but can only do so in the summer and in good weather.

“In northern Manitoba, anybody that’s ever been here, especially coming by plane, knows we are surrounded by water,” Safronetz said.

“It’s twofold. The importance of having a facility to teach the kids water safety and swimming lessons is critical to safety in the north, but also it’s a low-cost recreational opportunity for kids and youth in the community.”

Bailey said it will be great to have a location where children and adults, including newcomers, can hone their swimming skills before they’re out on a boat or at the beach.

“It’s really important to be able to have access to that,” she said.

Both communities had races and synchronized swimming programs in the old pools. Safronetz said he hopes those will come back once the doors open.

“That was a void, right when the pool closed down. Our competitive swimming program essentially came to an abrupt halt. You can’t compete anywhere in swimming without a pool,” he said.

“We’re really hoping to be able to help not only grow the competitive program in Thompson, but also to eventually host provincial programs, Manitoba Games, provincial swim meets, things like that.”