The old Jackson Pool building in Sarnia's Germain Park has been demolished.
Community Services General Manager Stacey Forfar said the demolition was approved in the 2022 budget.
Jackson Pool. April 27, 2022. (Photo by Stephanie Chaves)
"The facility has been empty for a number of years and it was in very, very poor condition," said Forfar. "It was considered a derelict facility at this point, so it was time to remove it and clean up the site."
She said GHN Infrastructure Inc. was awarded the job.
"We took down the old arena as well. It was in similar shape, very poor shape. This one is now coming down in terms of a general cleanup of our older facilities. They are significant liabilities for the community. Unsafe facilities. They really did need to come down."
Forfar said with the two buildings down it's a great time to refresh and re-envision the space.
"We've got a Germain Park Master Plan that council funded this year to really be able to take a look at the entire site. As we're moving forward as a community we need to think, 'how do we want Germain Park to work and integrate the city?' It's great timing as well with things reopening this year and that park seeing some significant activity moving ahead under what we would consider to be a normal year."
The federal and provincial governments announced about $1.4 million to construct a new pool in 2021.
"The funding is good for a number of years. So at this point, we really want to make sure that wherever those future assets are located, let's do it holistically in that park and make sure they're available in very accessible locations for everybody."
The pool was built in 1966.