CALEB NICKERSON
Fort Coulonge
Sept. 4, 2019
The Piscine Pontiac Pool committee is moving forward with their community project with a recent application for . . .
regional grant funding.
The Equity spoke with committee President Todd Hoffman to go over the details of the project.
Spearheaded in June of 2017 by current Warden Jane Toller prior to her election run, the most recent push for a pool in the Pontiac is planned for a plot of land next to the arena in Fort Coulonge.
The cost is estimated at $12 million, and the facility will feature multi-purpose rooms, a lap pool and also a warm therapy pool. Hoffman said that he was asked to be president in April of this year, and that the committee is currently made up of nine people.
He said they have made an application through the Regional Support Fund (FARR), which finances regional projects, for $25,000. After pointing out the obvious health benefits of a multi-use facility, Hoffman added that the future of the only other pool in the area, the Kinsmen in Pembroke, is in jeopardy, and now would be an opportune time to attract swimmers from across the river.
“That’s why we think the pool project fits quite well into the [health and wellness] criteria of the FARR grant,” he said. “We feel it fits the other criteria quite well, with the cross-border competitiveness.”
The funds would go towards hiring an architect to draw up preliminary plans for the facility. Hoffman added that with a detailed drawing in hand, making applications and calls for donations would become easier.
“Once we have the drawing and preliminary plans, that can be disseminated and … that helps for interest too,” he said.
Hoffman said that in addition to seeking out other funding applications, including a new provincial envelope for sports and recreation, they would also be seeking out community partners in the coming months as well.
“This project is not just all contingent on government money, we’ll also be starting fundraising initiatives,” he said. “We had a little bit of a hiatus there for a bit, you know in the spring with all the flooding and that, and summer. We’re starting the wheels back up in motion again.”
