We’re more than happy to hear that county residents will once again have an outdoor pool at Lions Park in Paris.

The Lions Park pool – enjoyed by county families for generations – has been closed since 2008 due to structural and mechanical problems. After some significant budgeting hurdles to clear, construction of a new Lions Park pool is now underway by Nith Valley Construction, New Hamburg Construction and Acapulco Pools. The facility is expected to open this summer.

Pool users will surely enjoy new 25-metre swimming lanes, a beachfront entry, full accessibility and an improved design for swimming lessons.

As it stands now, the cost of current repairs is about $1.5 million, with plans to spend an additional $400,000 during the next few years on renovating change rooms and other upgrades.

Before repairs began, council in 2010 budgeted $600,000 for the project, but found itself facing a cost of nearly $2 million after a consultant prepared a cost estimate.

In 2011, county council budgeted an additional $400,000 for the pool, bringing the total funds allocated for the project to $1 million. To cover the cost of about $1.5 million for work currently underway, council decided to borrow $406,000 from the county’s contingency reserve fund. That money is to be paid back over council’s current term.

Having allocated $1.5 million toward the project, the county is hoping a fundraising campaign will offset the cost of current construction and future renovations. Brant recently launched a Lions Park pool fundraising campaign with an aim to raise a total of $500,000 toward the project.

Raising that money after Paris and County of Brant residents gave so generously to the Brant Sports Complex during a recent fundraising campaign for that facility will be a tall order. (A total of just over $3 million in donations and pledges have been raised toward the new Brant Sports Complex twin-pad arena on Rest Acres Road.)

Still, we believe residents of Paris and other parts of the County of Brant will step up and help fund the Lions Park pool. Why? Because it’s a facility residents want and need in their community. A municipality of 30,000 people requires recreation facilities, including an aquatics facility. As it stands – and until the work underway at Lions Park is completed – the County of Brant does not have a public pool. It’s been that way since 2008. Too long, as far as we’re concerned.

County councillors were right to step up to the plate and fund a new Lions Park pool, even if the project will cost significantly more than expected. Now, it’s county residents’ turn to step up to the plate and help fund the new pool and associated upgrades. We urge everyone with the financial capacity to make a donation and show politicians that citizens of the county see recreation as an important part of community life.

And once upgrades are completed at the Paris pool, Brant politicians should sit down and consider working toward constructing an indoor pool for year-round use, specifically, an indoor pool addition to the Brant Sports Complex.

With the estimated cost of such a facility at more than $5 million, an indoor pool will be an expensive proposition. But with help from higher levels of government and the citizens of Brant, we believe it can happen. Securing enough funds for an indoor pool facility will take time and sustained effort, but  it’s an effort worth making.

For now, we’ll look forward to taking a dip at Lions Park this summer.