(File Photo/northeastNOW Staff)

By Mat Barrett

Leisure Service Restrictions

City of Humboldt closing pool, reducing hours after new public health measures

Dec 16, 2020 | 4:00 PM

In light of the provincial government’s announcement on Monday, Dec. 14, the City of Humboldt is making a few changes in their Leisure Services department to help limit the effects.

Beginning on Christmas Eve, the aquatic centre in the Uniplex will be temporarily closed. Director of Leisure Services Mike Ulriksen told northeastNOW that with the new restrictions, even though they were allowed to remain open, the measures that had to be taken had a major effect on how they were able to operate. Swimming lessons had to be drastically changed, and some were even stopped. He added that only having eight people in the pool at once isn’t ideal for operations.

“So with all of those combined, and just a general drop in our usage from our residents,” Ulriksen said. “The cost of having our facility open just continued to rise and rise.”

Typically, the aquatic centre would be shut down for a short period of time in early January for annual maintenance. Ulriksen said they felt the community is used to the pool not being in operation during this period, so the timing was right.

Ulriksen said while the new restrictions didn’t force any closures of their leisure facilities, they were monitoring the situation after other recent public health announcements. He said the recent announcement added another hit.

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“Basically told us that, we’re in this for another four weeks,” he said. “And it just doesn’t make sense for us to continue.”

On top of the aquatic centre closing, hours will be reduced at the Uniplex fitness centre, as well as administration. The fitness centre will be open Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and administration will be around between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

For the time being, outdoor activities such as the outdoor ice rinks, crokicurl, and others are remaining open and in use. Ulriksen said they will continue to monitor what the province gives them and adjust accordingly.

The limits in Humboldt are expected to remain in effect until at least Jan. 31.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6