Buffalo Pound pool nearing completion

It has been under construction for nearly a year, but the new outdoor pool at Buffalo Pound Provincial Park is nearly complete.

The project is now in its final stages. However, an official opening date has not been announced.

“A lot of this stuff in the last stage is weather-dependent, so as we get rain, it postpones the work. We’re anxiously awaiting when we can actually say when we are going to open,” said Buffalo Pound Provincial Park manager Dave Bjarnson.

Bjarnson said the expectation is that the pool will be able to open this summer along with the pools at Pike Lake and Cypress Hills Provincial Parks.

“The province gave green lights for outdoor pools to open on the 22nd of June. None of our pools were at that point in time ready to open. Simply opening a pool doesn’t happen in that short of a time frame, but the other two pools had opened on July 1 and we are hoping to join them in the very near future,” he said.

The original outdoor pool, built in 1972, failed in 2018 and it was decided that a new pool needed to be built.

The old pool was demolished in the spring of 2019 and construction began on the new facility.

Once opened, it will include a shallow end with a sloped entrance and a deep end for lane swimming and swimming lessons.

Two new buildings will also be built, a new changing facility and a building for the mechanical systems and admission services.

The project is expected to cost the province about $2.5 million.

Shawn Slaght, Discover Moose Jaw