Tired of listening to herself complain about a lack of a year-round swimming pool in Aldergrove, Joanne Nicolato decided to do something about it.
Enter the Aldergrove Pool Committee, a group of 12 swim enthusiasts whose ambition is to have an indoor pool and recreation centre鈥檚 completely built in the core of Aldergrove before October 2014.
Nicolato鈥檚 family is part of Aldergrove鈥檚 Million-Dollar Neighbourhood reality-TV project, featured on the Oprah Winfrey Network. The show (still airing) aims to help 100 local families increase their collective net worth by an average of $100,000 a week over 10 weeks.
鈥淲hen I started the Million-Dollar Neighbourhood thing, I just did it for the finances,鈥� Nicolato says.
鈥淏ut in the whole process, I found a huge sense of community spirit and I thought, I鈥檓 going to do something for this town. I鈥檓 tired of listening to myself complain, 鈥淲here鈥檚 the pool? There needs to be one here I thought, 鈥業鈥檓 going to make it happen.鈥�
The new-pool idea isn鈥檛 new, of course. It鈥檚 been on local wish-lists for a long time.
In 2007, [Township of 91原创 planners] had a couple of possible pool options and a day at the Kinsmen Centre for people to come and look at them, she says.
鈥淚 did not like any of them because our family is a swim-club family and what Aldergrove needs is something they can do year-round and it didn鈥檛 seem as if this was happening.鈥�
When the planners left with those proposals, that was it. Nothing happened. Then in 2011, the artificial swimming pool at Aldergrove Lake Park was shut down.
So, with all the public fanfare over the Million-Dollar Neighbourhood show, Nicolato thought: Aldergrove is going to be in the limelight and we need [a new swimming facility] now.
She looked around at her Million-Dollar鈥檚 family and was amazed by what all these people can accomplish in five or six days.鈥�
鈥淚t was like, 鈥榃e can do this. We can totally do this.鈥� You take these Million-Dollar people and you spread them into the rest of the community and we will get something done.鈥�
The pool committee is conducting an online survey (www.aldergrovereccenter.ca) and recenlty supporters were at four local stores, the Otter Co-op, Save-On Foods, Extra Foods and Safeway to survey shoppers who might not wish to go online. The survey deadline is April 30.
The group hosted an open meeting at the Aldergrove Legion on March 12. And they plan a delegation to Township council during the month.
Township Coun. Bob Long made the idea of a new community pool part of his re-election platform last November.
He welcomes the initiative of the pool committee but points to its potential $20-million cost and Aldergrove鈥檚 smaller population base of around 11,000 residents.
鈥淚鈥檝e been working on this project for a number of years and it鈥檚 not an easy one. It鈥檚 going to take some really creative work to find a way to finance it and pull it off. We need to get a design that people will buy into. Council has money in the budget for a revamp of the design . . . We鈥檝e identified a location [the now-closed Aldergrove Elementary School that is owned by the 91原创 School District].
鈥淚t鈥檚 always nice when the community gets involved in something . . . we know Aldergrove鈥檚 needed a pool, like for ever, but it鈥檚 having the resources to pay for it that鈥檚 the number one thing and, with the population we have, it鈥檚 a challenge. That鈥檚 why we did the revamp of the downtown plan, trying to get the density up,鈥� he said.
The pool committee doesn鈥檛 quibble with Long鈥檚 $20-million ballpark figure 鈥淚t鈥檒l be a lot,鈥� acknowledges Nicolato who knows it has an uphill fundraising fight.
鈥淚 think we can do the impossible,鈥� says Nicolato. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to ask for the moon and then go with that.鈥�
Janet Ingram-Johnson
Black Press
