Executive committee supports adding elevator at new Wascana Pool

A new feature at Wascana Pool will be getting a financial lift from the City of Regina.

The city’s executive committee voted unanimously Wednesday to build an elevator at the new pool to make the waterslides more accessible.

Mayor Sandra Masters told the Greg Morgan Morning Show on Thursday that Coun. Terina Nelson has been relentless on making sure the pool was 100 per cent accessible.

“Administration did a phenomenal job. This is the most accessible pool in (the) city. It was just missing access into the high waterslide,” Masters said. “It wasn’t considered at the time just, frankly, because they were looking at every other element and it’ll be the first (one) in Canada actually.”

According to the mayor, the elevator would cost $555,000 and would be almost as expensive as a ramp.

“The ramp would take up a whole bunch of real estate … (An elevator) would be quick and easier to use from an experience perspective,” she said.

Masters added the city has $500,000 budgeted for adaptive reuse every year.

“We’re going to use two or three years worth of that money to pay for the elevator,” she said.

The next step would be to have a discussion on the project during the next city council meeting and table a vote on whether it should be built.

“I think, based upon a unanimous 10-0 vote (during the executive committee meeting), council will continue to support it,” Masters added.