Residents in Westsyde are hoping the city of Kamloops will keep their pool open past the end of this year.

Westsyde Community Development Society president Diane Kuchma says despite the negative effects of COVID-19, the pool is being well used, noting it is important to residents in that part of Kamloops.

“Yes, its a few extra dollars for cleaning but its so worth it to the people here,” she said. “Not everybody can go up to the Canada Games Pool. Not everybody has a vehicle, the bus ride is nuts. Its going to be busy up there too, so I think we could really use both facilities and it would be really great if we could keep our local pool open.”

“I hear nothing but how grateful families are to have something that they can do together. And its great exercise as well as a place you can gather – not in great numbers – but at least do something in the community.”

Kuchma says the Westsyde Community Development Society plans to reach out to city council in the near future to officially ask them to keep Westsyde Pool open.

“Councillor Dale Bass has been very supportive of it and often will come to our meetings, so we’ll kind of run it by her. I don’t think a petition is required but I think that we just need to make it known to them,” she added.

“I know we speak for the community because when we were at the pool, I spoke to a lot of people and they all said, ‘please, we really want this facility to remain open.'”

Westsyde pool closed in February for about six weeks of renovations, but the reopening was delayed to September because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As it stands, it is set to close again once renovations on the Canada Games Pool are completed in early January.

City staff estimate it will cost $200,000 to keep Westsyde Pool until the end of December, with the money coming from this year’s budget.

The hours at the Westsyde Pool were recently extended after the Brock outdoor pool closed for the season.