Spirit of youth keeps Maple Leaf Pool going

For 75 years, Maple Leaf Pool has been at the heart of Regina’s Heritage community.

On Tuesday, the pool’s grand reopening was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting and a cannonball, to symbolize a new beginning of a long tradition.

Grade 8 student Lilla Fayant spoke at the opening. In December 2018, Fayant protested against the City of Regina’s decision to close Maple Leaf Pool and fought for the building of a new one because, for her, it was more than just a place to make a splash.

“I was devastated,” recalled Fayant, 13. “I know the impact that this pool has had on the neighbourhood and the community. It has been a safe space that anyone can go to at any time and it’s a place that served food for people who really needed it.”

Fayant explained many of her memories have been made at the old pool, as she has been swimming there her whole life.

“I spent most of my summers there and spend so much time with my family and friends there,” Fayant said. “When I think of summer, I think of swimming in that pool. So you can understand my sadness and hearing that I wasn’t going to have that anymore.”

As a young girl, Fayant would make her mother take her to the pool almost every day, no matter the weather.

“I remember one time it was a really, really cloudy day,” Fayant said. “It really looked like it was going to rain or storm and I still made my mom take me to the pool. We were the only ones there and pretty much as soon as we got there, we had to leave because it started storming.

“I used to stay in that pool until my lips turned blue and I couldn’t stop shivering because I loved it so much. I never wanted to leave.”

Maple Leaf Pool reopened in Regina on June 22, 2021. (Mattea Columpsi/980 CJME)

Fayant recalled fond memories with her family, such as taking her grandmother to the pool, or her dad who refuses to put his feet in. But her most fond memories are of her grandfather.

“My grandfather passed away in 2014,” Fayant said. “I was very young then so I don’t have many memories of him, but most of the memories I do have are in that pool, either bringing him there to show him my tricks or even just splashing each other.

“I may be just one kid telling you how much this meant to me, but I know for a fact that I’m not the only one who feels this way about the pool.”

Once the oldest pool in the city, Maple Leaf Pool is now celebrated as the newest and a piece of community worth keeping.

The pool features gender-inclusive washrooms, enhanced accessibility, solar panels and a state-of-the-art filtration system. It also is a saltwater facility.