Although a bit more life has been breathed into the Big Hill Leisure Pool with the delayed opening of the Jayman Aquatic Centre, a party to celebrate the facility’s “retirement” will still go ahead as planned for the end of the month.
On June 24, Big Hill will host a goodbye get-together for the 14,000 square-foot, four-lane pool that has seen countless scores of Cochrane children learn to swim and love the water since it first opened in the spring of 1990.
“It meant so much to so many people over the years,” said aquatic director John Napier, adding about 4,000 swimmers used the pool annually. “A lot of kids grew up here, all the staff that worked here.”
Napier acknowledged that, while 27 years old seems young to be retiring, the town’s population ballooned beyond the aqua blue borders of the pool years ago.
“This pool isn’t really that old,” he said. “Our community just grew so fast that it outgrew this little four-lane pool.”
Games, activities and more are slated for the June 24 party, which Napier said will run from 3 to 5 p.m. for Cochranites to come and share memories of the Big Hill Pool. The afternoon is free of charge.
“It’s … a nostalgic event.”
