Cloverdale’s only public pool is opening a month earlier this spring, in response to demand from sports clubs and residents, while the city gauges public interest.
The Greenaway Outdoor Pool in Greenaway Park at 17906 60 Avenue will open May 12, the same date as Bear Creek Outdoor Pool.
Mike Bola, president of the Cloverdale Community Association, said the pool was originally slated to open June 9 – weeks after two other city-run outdoor pools in Surrey will welcome their first swimmers of the season.
But that wasn’t soon enough for swim club members and parents, who were concerned that they would have to go to Bear Creek Outdoor Pool or to the indoor pool at the Surrey Sports and Leisure Complex instead, Bola said.
“We have a pool in Cloverdale, we should be able to utilize it,” Bola said. The city operates eight outdoor pools, with Bear Creek and Sunnyside pools typically opening in mid-May, Greenaway in mid-June and the rest in July, when public demand rises.
Bola said the Cloverdale Community Association received emails from those who wanted to open Greenway pool in May, such as the Cloverdale Tritons Swim Club, and passed their concerns along to the city.
He said he learned last week that the early opening for Greenaway will go ahead.
Once the pool is open, the city will see if the public demand is there.
In the past, when the weather is cooler, the city has seen little public demand outside the swim club’s practice times.
To June 27, hours of operation will be from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday for the public swim, with more openings on weekends (1:30-3 p.m., 3:30-5 p.m. and 5:30-7 p.m. Saturday and from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Sunday).