OUTLOOK - Without a shadow of a doubt, many people in Outlook and the surrounding area are eagerly anticipating another hot summer season in the irrigation capital of the province.
With that comes the need to stay cool, and one thing that people in the riverside community are looking forward to is the return of their local waterpark at the Van Raay and Community Swimming Pool.
The pool had to sit out the 2024 season last year after a freak pipe burst in January caused substantial damage that required repairs. But now, people are busy signing up their loved ones in preparation for swimming lessons, and the town's director of community development actually says that the flurry of signups that the town had to process on Registration Night was lower than usual.
Held on Tuesday night, April 15, the town received over 125 registrations for swimming lessons in the first ten minutes after the queue opened up for the public at 7:00 pm. Such a solid number in that small amount of time is impressive enough, but director Megan Anthony shared that in previous years, the town had seen up to 250 registrations come through on registration night.
However, she had other interesting news to share regarding lessons, as the town will be working with Outlook Elementary School to provide swimming lessons to Grades 1-5 students in May and June during school hours. Offering such lessons showed a lot of interest from the community, with over 200 registrations signed up, and combining those with regular lessons being offered, the Outlook pool is slated to become a very popular hotspot this summer.
"This will be our first year ever doing that at our pool," said Megan. "For these lessons, we received 208 registrations! We are SO excited! By implementing these lessons, it opens up more opportunities for the folks that come camping or to visit grandma and grandpa over the summer or the folks that might need extra instruction time. Between OES lessons, regular public lessons and private lessons, we are expecting to provide swimming lessons for approximately 400 people between the ages of 6 months old - 45 years old!"
The swimming pool is looking at an opening date during the long weekend in May and Anthony believes staff and management are all set up to open those doors for people looking to jump in the water.
"Our target opening day is set for May 17th, as long as the weather treats us right and the start-up goes well," said Megan. "I feel pretty confident that we can pull that off."
For more on the pool, you can head to on the official Town website to learn more about swimming lessons, pricing, and key dates.
