Scona pool will continue to keep its head above water, but its future might need a life preserver.
City council approved $300,000 of annual ongoing funding this week, but more money is needed for upgrades — up to $5 million over the next three years.
But the ongoing operational funding is a start, said the pool’s manager.
“(It’s) great news,” said Kiara Wagar, operations manager. “But we don’t see a lot of that money. It covers basically the maintenance, upkeep and cost, as well as it covers utilities and power bills.”
In fact, Coun. Jane Batty called the 2011 funding a band-aid solution. “There is a large deficit in the capital budget which the Scona pool requires in the next year or two,” she said.
The pool nearly closed last year, but council stepped up to operate it through 2010 and hired River City Recreation on as new management.
Batty said the new Terwilliger facility in January shouldn’t have an impact because of the amount of people that have been using Scona pool over the last year.
