More than two years after its closure, Heritage Neighbourhood’s Maple Leaf Pool has officially reopened to the public. Admission is free Monday to Sunday, 12 to 8 p.m. For more information, see the City of Regina Website here.

June 22, 2021

HCA was honoured to join community members and city representatives this morning in celebrating the grand re-opening of Maple Leaf Pool. We would like to express our overwhelming gratitude once again to the city council and city staff who brought the next chapter of this safe and inclusive space to life.

When the proposed closure of the facility was made public in 2018, passionate and dedicated community members, especially youth, made sure that their voices were heard. They spoke of this facility as vital to our community for countless reasons: as a second home for youth in the summer, for building and strengthening community relationships, for keeping active, and so much more.

This reopening marks a moment of great strength for the Heritage Community. It has not been an easy road to get to get here, we sincerely hope that you take advantage of this new space and celebrate your collective, community action that made it possible.

See you at the pool, Heritage!

From left to right: HCA Executive Director Aria Ramdeo delivers a speech at the grand opening of Maple Leaf Pool; City of Regina Mayor Sandra Masters cuts the ribbon at the grand opening of Maple Leaf Pool; HCA Executive Director Aria Ramdeo and HCA Program Coordinator Wendy Miller stand in front of the newly re-opened Maple Leaf Pool.

March 30, 2020

The City of Regina made the following announcement:

Construction work on Maple Leaf Pool begins

Construction on the new Maple Leaf pool is set to begin this week.

The decision to move forward with this infrastructure project was done with careful consideration. Throughout the project, we heard from area residents of the invaluable role this facility plays as a community hub and gathering place for families. While we continue to focus on the health and well-being of residents, this will play a very important role in community well-being in the long-term and we are committed to moving this infrastructure project to completion.  

The health, safety and well-being of our community is our top priority. Additional safety measures and site monitoring will be in place to ensure a safe work environment for contractors. Some measures include appropriate physical distancing between workers on site, adherence to handwashing protocols, additional cleaning of shared surfaces and personal protective equipment.

City Council approved $5.3 million to support building a modern, accessible and inclusive facility while taking steps to reduce environmental footprint. The design incorporates industry best practices for accessibility and sustainability. The design, developed through consultation with the community, includes features that appeal to the whole family, regardless of age or ability while incorporating systems that will result in reduced energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption.

The contract for the construction work was awarded to Westridge Construction Limited. We will continue to work with the Heritage Community Association and provide area residents with information updates on the Maple Leaf Pool renewal.

February 26, 2020

An additional $880,000 (out of a pre-existing recreation fund) was unanimously approved for Maple Leaf Pool by City Council today. That means the pool will be re-built according to the designs we saw in October, and is on track to be completed by Fall 2020.

February 12, 2020

The Finance & Administration Committee approved the request for $880,000 more toward Maple Leaf Pool! It now goes to City Council on Feb. 26 (1:30pm). If it passes there, the pool re-build will go ahead as planned, with a short delay in the timeline (completed by Fall 2020 instead of mid-summer 2020).

We are pleased that the Committee and City staff continue to understand the value of this pool, and the urgency of getting it completed as soon as possible.

City staff are also working on summer programming for 2020, and on ensuring our community has access to another pool facility for the summer. We don’t have details yet, but we expect that PlayEscapes will run again at Thomson School, potentially a separate program for older youth, and free transportation/admission to another City pool. We’ve been told they’ll be in touch to work with us on the details, and we’ll keep you posted as we know more.

Thank you Councillors Sharon Bryce, Barbara Young, Lori Bresciani and Jason Mancinelli for your words of support and your unanimous vote today! And thanks to all the City staff who are working hard to get this project done asap, and to ease the stress on our community in the meantime.

And Extra Special Thanks to members of our community for continuing to stay engaged in this conversation! If you wish to speak at the Council Meeting on Feb. 26, you must submit a request by 1pm tomorrow/Thursday (Email clerks@regina.ca with a summary of your presentation; See “How to Make a Request” here).

February 7, 2020

City staff provided HCA with the following verbal update:

• They have been negotiating project details with the contractor who will be building the pool;
• The contractor has said they cannot complete the project within the timeline identified, and have pushed their completion date back to Fall 2020 (from mid-Summer 2020);
• City staff are hopeful that there will still be an opportunity for the community to experience the facility upon completion in Fall 2020, but cannot promise anything;
• The contractor has also said they cannot complete the project within the available budget, and need $880,000 more;
• City staff plan to make this request to the Finance & Administration Committee at their Feb. 12 meeting at 9am. They are proposing to take the money out of the Recreation/Culture Capital Program, which was established in the 2020 budget for “the purpose of funding and supporting investments that advance the Regina Cultural and Recreation Master Plans and other initiatives that focus on enhancing quality of life in Regina” (in other words, there’s an existing source of this money, which will hopefully make it easier for the Committee and Council to approve);
• If this request for additional funding is turned down, the only other options are to re-design and re-tender the project, further delaying the pool’s opening until at least mid-Summer 2021 (everyone involved is very hopeful this won’t happen!);
• The Committee meeting is open to the public; anyone can just show up at 9am and sign up then to speak; HCA will be present to speak in support of this request for additional funding;
• If the Finance & Administration Committee approves this proposal, it will still have to go through Council, probably at their Feb. 26 meeting.

The full report is available here (p. 36).

October 10, 2019

The City released its Concept Design for the new Maple Leaf Pool.

From their website:

“The Maple Leaf Outdoor Pool Concept DesignOpens in new window is complete with features that appeal to the whole family, regardless of age or ability.

June 12, 2019

The City held a come-and-go community barbeque at Thomson School, where community members could provide feedback on design options for a renewed Maple Leaf Pool.

Details on summer programs for kids in the community was also provided.

May 23, 2019

HCA met with the City today to get an update on plans for the demolition and re-build of the pool, and to plan a community consultation on the design of the new pool.

A tender process is currently underway to select a firm to take on the demolition, which should still happen this summer.

P3A Architecture is the local firm responsible for developing the designs for the pool’s re-build. HCA is working with them and the City to plan a community consultation event in mid-June. Consultation details are currently being finalized, and will be shared soon — stay tuned to this page, our e-newsletter and/or social media!

May 15, 2019

The Executive Committee of City Council approved the report outlined below, and sent it forward for discussion at City Council on May 27.

The only element of the report that’s not confirmed, and that Council will have to vote on, is the changes to the transit route.

May 9, 2019

Next Wednesday, City of Regina staff will be presenting a report to City Council on their engagement to date on summer programming during the Maple Leaf Pool rebuild. The full report is available here.

Highlighted recommendations include:

• That admission to Wascana Pool will be free for ALL this summer, between 12-8pm
• That a free PlayEscapes program be held at Thomson School for ages 5-12, including free lunch and supervised visits to Wascana Pool 2-3 times per week
• That the City provide a free drop-in program in the neighbourhood for youth in grades 8-12 on weekday afternoons and evenings, including supervised visits to Wascana Pool
• That the #15 Heritage bus route be amended slightly to include a stop near Wascana Pool
• That a special bus pass be made available to Heritage residents to give free access to the #15 or #8 to get to Wascana Pool

Jan. 30, 2019

The proposed plans and timelines (see below) were approved by Council with no major discussion.

Jan. 23, 2019

On Jan. 17, the Community & Protective Services Committee of City Council met. Their agenda included the timeline and plan for the re-development of Maple Leaf Pool and Wascana Pool.

HCA also met with 3 staff from the City’s Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services department this week to discuss the same timeline.

Here’s the outline proposed by City Admin:

To summarize: Demolition of Maple Leaf Pool would begin this spring/summer, along with consultation with the community about the design of the new pool.  The design would be finalized by September 2019. Construction of the new pool would begin in early 2020, with the goal of it being completed partway through the 2020 swimming season.

In the meantime, the City will be consulting on programming options (including for whom, and where) over the next 2 months. They are currently finalizing a timeline for this consultation process; we should be able to share more details soon.

The Community & Protective Services Committee approved the above plan, meaning it will go to City Council for discussion at their Jan. 28 meeting.

We have raised concerns with City staff about both Wascana and Maple Leaf pools being closed for the first part of the swimming season in 2020. They stressed that these timelines are preliminary, and that they can’t be finalized until they discuss with the contractor, but that they will do their best to minimize the amount of time when both pools are closed, and look at offering Heritage residents transportation and admission to a different City pool during that time. HCA will be keeping a close eye on this aspect of the timeline as more detailed plans develop.

The above plan goes to City Council on Monday, Jan. 28, at which point anyone who wants to speak to it can do so. The meeting starts at 5:30pm; if you want to speak to Council, you must submit a summary of your presentation by this Thursday (Jan. 24) at 1pm.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on all this! As always, call 306-757-9952 or email director [at] heritagecommunityassociation.com with any and all feedback.

Jan. 11, 2019

Since Council’s decision to re-build the pool on Dec. 11, HCA has had 2 meetings with City staff — one on Dec. 19, and one today, Jan. 11. The main focus of these two conversations was how to best meet the needs of our community in the interim, while the pool is being demolished and rebuilt.