Carl Hnatyshyn For The Journal Members of the public were invited to take a tour of Sarnia’s Pathways Health Centre for Children’s recently renovated aquatic facilities on October 27.
Carl Hnatyshyn
For The Journal
Members of the public were invited to take a tour of Sarnia’s Pathways Health Centre for Children’s recently renovated aquatic facilities on October 27.
Pathways staff and board members were on hand to talk to curious community members and showcase the organization’s completely refurbished, newly re-opened therapeutic pool, along with a thoroughly modernized and more accessible set of changerooms and a completely revamped lobby area.
The changes were part of a multi-phase refurbishment project that began over three years ago, an effort to update the venerable, much-used community pool, which was first opened in 1986.
“The pool had pretty much reached the end of its serviceable life, a lot of the equipment was older – the pumps and filtration system were older and it was time to upgrade them, so the Pathways board of directors made the decision to invest in refurbishing the pool,” said Tim Bechard, head of Pathways’ Community & Corporate Partnerships. “It was significant, because it meant committing to another twenty-plus years of operating the pool.”
In 2020, following a $1.6 million Save Pathways Therapeutic Pool capital campaign that drew on tremendous support from the community, the aging pool was rebuilt from the ground up, with new additions including an automated filtration and sterilization system as well as brand new tiling for the deck and both the main 20’ x 60’ pool as well as the smaller therapeutic pool.
This January, work began on the second, $1 million phase of the project, which focused on upgrading the pool’s four changing rooms and lobby area, equipping them with features such as additional and more accessible showers, wider doorways and automated fixtures, new flooring, lighting and wall coverings.
Nearly $800,000 of the second phase of the project came from a contribution by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, Bechard said, with the remainder coming from Pathways ongoing fundraisers and reserve money.
Following an eight-month break during the second phase of renovations, the pool was officially re-opened on Sept. 18.
During pre-pandemic times nearly 10,000 community members – including 800 children and young adults with disabilities – visited Pathways’ therapeutic pool each year, said Aquatic Supervisor Deb Marson.
Each week the pool, which is the only one of its kind in Sarina, hosts 80 lessons to a variety of community members, serving clientele ranging from moms and tots, older adults and clients from local organizations that include the Strangway Centre, Community Living, New Beginnings ABI and Stroke Recovery Association and Archways Health and Sports Services.
The newly rebuilt aquatic facility will be a boon to clients who come from across Lambton County, Marson said.
“We have clients from community members just enjoying a leisure swim at the pool to children who have a fear of the water overcoming that fear, individuals suffering from a brain injury or stroke learning how to walk again.”
“When I first started here, I was very impressed by how the facility was originally built and how it was maintained over 40 years,” Marson added. “(With the renovations) we wanted to uphold that integrity, we want this to last for another 40 to 50 years.”
Pathways’ Manager of Community Services Karen McClintock said that both staff and visitors have been highly impressed with what they’ve seen.
“We’re obviously thrilled to have people back splashing around in the pool. It’s a lot of fun to come down and watch everybody enjoy this space again,” she said. “We have a lot of people who rely on the pool for therapy, for rehab and for exercise, so we know that this is a really important asset to the community.”
“People really missed the pool (during construction), and now that it’s open we’ve been busier than ever,” McClintock added. “And honestly, it’s a great facility. The accessibility features we’ve included, it’s just so important that Pathways is a leader for accessibility and we’ve have had nothing but great response about the changes since we opened the pool back in September.”
The pool receives no ministry funding, Bechard said, so operations are supported by user fees and Pathways year-round funding. For more information about Pathways’ new aquatic centre and its programs, visit the Pathways Pool Facebook page, Pathways website at pathwayscentre.org, email [email protected] or phone 519-542-3471, ext. 7665 (POOL).
