Residents express frustration with decision to close Huron County pool

For nearly 50 years, Clinton's kids have enjoyed an outdoor pool. However, following a three-year long closure due to expensive required repairs, Clinton's pool will now never be swam in again.

"Honestly, there wasn't a lot of support that council heard, either from surveys or open houses, in support of a pool. An outdoor pool gets used two months of the year. Certainly it's nice to have, but we went three years without it and saw very little fanfare," said Municipality of Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn.

Central Huron council has decided to spend $200,000 to fill in Clinton's pool and return it to green space.

A brand new pool was going to cost more than $5 million, said Ginn, "We thought a couple million dollars for an outdoor pool, but when you get the experts in to tell us what it's really going to cost, you know, we're looking at five [million dollars]."

As one might imagine, the closure of the community's only pool has garnered an outcry of anger from local residents.

Concerned community members gather outside Clinton’s outdoor pool after learning it will close for good on June 27, 2024. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

"I've been here for about 55 years, and all my kids use this pool. I've been in education for almost as long. And I think one of the most important things, especially today, is kids need to be with kids. They need to have fun," said long-time Clinton resident Ingy Marshall.

"I think that the pool would be a great opportunity for young children to learn how to swim. And me being a lifeguard, I work at the Seaforth pool but I live in Clinton, so it's a long drive to get to Seaforth every day. It would be great to just be able to bike up here and work here," said Clinton teen lifeguard Ashlyn Edwards.

Consideration was given to paving over the pool and putting a sports pad of some sort, for basketball or pickleball, but the chances of balls bouncing onto the nearby Clinton racetrack scuttled that plan.

Ginn said he himself would like to see a pool in Clinton, but not at a cost of $5 million. He is confident if they do fill that pool in and covered over with grass, that they can build some sort of sports park or sports fields somewhere else in the park.

"I would love to revisit that. You know, relook at if we can tame it down, see if we can cut those costs. If we can drop it down, maybe everybody would be a little more on board," said Clinton parent Shawn Bruinsma.

"For me personally, it wasn't even so much about the pool, but about the fact that they squandered this really great opportunity to make Clinton better for our kids, for our future, for everybody," said Clinton resident Stacey Petteplace.

"This was a moment in time that regardless of what they got in some survey, that they only got 300 people. They should know that this was their opportunity to make a difference. And they bungled it so badly across all boards that it's why I'm here, you know, up in arms and very frustrated on a workday in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week," said local parent Isaac Elliott-Fisher.

Ginn said they'll put the pool closure to tender this summer, but it will likely be next year before it is returned to grass.