Prince Albert's indoor pool is closing

The Frank J. Dunn swimming pool is preparing to close its doors after 50 years of operation. A staple of the Prince Albert community, the pool is preparing to close its doors to programs and the public in 2025.

Prince Albert Sports Hall of Famer Francois Fournier has a long history with the city's aquatics programs, including speed swimming, diving, and lifeguarding.

"Aquatics, swimming pools, beaches, etc. are a tremendous recreational activity opportunity," said Fournier. "When you look at recreation, it's a development process for the entire person. And so, you have the ability with that kind of pool to do things on a year-round basis."

The pool, built in the early seventies, is owned by the Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division and jointly operated with the City of Prince Albert.

A media release from the city said their plan is to gradually phase out community use of the pool before closing its doors.

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Programs currently run out of the Frank J. Dunn facility will be available at the new Lake Country Co-op Leisure Centre, which is set to open in the spring.

Aquatics Recreation Coordinator Lauren Haubrich said the goal is to make the transition as seamless as possible. "We'll keep programming at the Frank Dunn pool continuing as long as possible," she explained.

Haubrich said the new facility will open the door for Prince Albert to host provincial swim meets.

"A number of years ago, Swim Saskatchewan and Swimming Canada changed the requirements around what a swimming pool would have to have to host a certain swim meet," said Haubrich.

"Because Frank Dunn is a quite old facility, as those requirements changed, the Frank Dunn Pool didn't change with that."

As of today there is no official date for when the Frank J. Dunn facility will close to the public.