The Jasper Aquatic Centre may be celebrating its 25th anniversary, but the history surrounding the big glass building reaches much further into the past.
It begins in 1948, when Parks Canada built a 50-metre outdoor swimming pool. For 36 years it ran that pool, and during that time an aquatic society, competitive swimming team and Red Cross society all formed. The pool even ran swim meets, and in its heyday hosted two Alberta swim championships.
As Nora Findlay told the Jasper Booster in 1989, “the community welcomed the pool with open arms,” but after more than three decades of vibrancy, it fell on hard times.
“While the government sought to control costs, minor repairs became major ones. Meanwhile, pool staff wages continued their inexorable rise. Visitor use of the pool, compounded by one or two rainy summers, began a slow decline,” she said.
Parks shut the pool down in 1983, and for several years it sat unused as the organization negotiated with the Jasper School District—which was the municipal body at the time—over terms for turning it over.
Meanwhile, Jasperites with big dreams were mobilizing a volunteer effort to help ensure the town got a full-blown indoor aquatic centre.
“Jasperites concerned about the pool did not rest idle. They lobbied and planned and knocked on doors and twisted arms—and dreamed of the day when the splashes and laughter of youngsters would be heard again,” Findlay said.
Eventually, after a trip to Ottawa and some help from MP Joe Clark, negotiations were successful and the Canadian government put $550,000 towards the construction of an indoor aquatic centre, while Parks turned over the old pool to the JSD.
Residents rallied, and in a plebiscite that “rivaled municipal elections” in its turnout, Jasperites voted to give the JSD the authority to borrow $650,000 towards the centre’s construction. That amount eventually became $1.5 million after problems with contractors forced a complete redesign of the centre.
Meanwhile, Jasperites created a not-for-profit society that raised the $200,000 needed to complete the centre.
The new centre officially opened on Oct. 14, 1989, although things didn’t go quite as smoothly as staff hoped.
At one point the lights went out, and staff had to find all the proper reset switches through trial and error. They eventually got things back on track—except they missed a crucial reset of the caustic feed button, which controlled the water’s pH balance.
They discovered their oversight the hard way, when Lois Journault got out of the whirlpool and her swimsuit was completely bleached.
According to the centre’s fitness and aquatic manager, Natasha Malenchak, not a whole lot has changed since the center first opened. A few of the classes have evolved, and the swim teams continue to grow in size, but the major change was the addition of the gym in 2011.
The project began in 2009, and Malenchak remembers that during it she and other administrators had to sit directly on the pool deck with the lifeguards to do their work.
Recalling that two-year period, Jo-Ann Sherlow, the centre’s aquatic administrative coordinator, shook her head and laughed.
“Sometimes in the winter we would have groups of 120–150 people coming in. And they’re there to play and you’re sitting right out there on the pool deck with a little table.
“We got really wet out there, and it was definitely a learning experience,” she said.
Now back in dry offices, Malenchak reflected on how the centre has become a hub in the community over the years.
“We know a lot of the community just because of where we are here. And it’s great because we walk downtown and say hello to everybody just because they recognize us,” she said.
“I don’t think there’s a single one of us who has taught these little kids who hasn’t gone out in public and the kids don’t recognize us with our clothes on—and they say that to us,” Sherlow said, laughing at the absurdity of kids repeatedly telling her they don’t recognize her with clothes on.
Malenchak said that the close relationships staff form with the kids and families that use the pool are part of what makes the centre a great place. From the swim team to the junior lifeguard club, the centre has strong roots in the community, and is a big part of its health and wellness.
“I think the thing that describes us best is our logo of ‘inspiring community wellness,’ because it does stand behind everything that we do here. Whether it’s mental, or physical or that community base, it’s definitely here,” she said.
The centre will celebrate its anniversary with a day-long party at the Aquatic Centre July 25. The festivities will kick off with a free aquafit class in the morning, and continue with a barbecue on the sun deck at noon. Later, inflatable toys, face painting and temporary tattoos will be available for kids. Any memberships purchased that day will also be 25 per cent off.
Trevor Nichols
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