City of Weyburn working to keep leisure centre and sports arena in operation

The City of Weyburn is working to come up with solutions as more issues surrounding their leisure centres come up.

Heather Manko, a resident of Weyburn, expressed her frustration with the Weyburn Leisure Centre, which has been in disrepair for awhile now.

"Our youth, our senior citizens, the whole population somehow have a tie to this pool, and we are missing it so much. It's sad, actually, for a community this size and this vibrant to go without this facility. We need it,” she said.

"I just want to know how we got here and how we can move on from here. I think about the youth, and I think about what it takes to raise a young person these days. And we need physical activity in our lives, and we need facilities that are safe and operational at all times,” she added.

It is an issue that is not lost upon Weyburn's newly elected mayor, Jeff Richards.

"We're all disappointed. I'm disappointed. The staff is disappointed, but also under the realization that that pool is really failing 10 years before we'd probably be expecting to deal with it anyways. So although it's not ideal, it's just a fact of life that we have to deal with,” he said.

Richards went on to say that city staff are looking into options for the centre, which he hopes to see presented to council within the first quarter of 2025. The mayor added that he plans to have a solution in place regarding the leisure centre before the end of his term, whether that be a new facility or major repairs to the existing one.

"One hundred per cent absolutely, yeah. I mean, four years from now, we want to be back to a two-pool community, without a doubt," Richards said.

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In addition to the leisure centre, the Crescent Point Place & Tom Zandee Sports Arena are currently not operational due to a mechanical issue, causing organizations who regularly use the ice to seek other spaces.

"Our hockey community is second to none, and they've had a difficult couple of weeks because they've had to pivot everything that goes on those two ice surfaces had to be moved to older communities, to smaller communities," Manko said.

The City of Weyburn, however, has taken the opportunity to prove their resourcefulness. A U-9 hockey tournament was scheduled to take place over the weekend at the rink but could not proceed due to the mechanical issues.

Now, the tournament has been moved to one of the city's outdoor rinks, being named the first ever Winter Classic in Weyburn.

"Sometimes when things like our recreation don't go the way we want, we find solutions. And I am very grateful for everybody who has come together to make this tournament work for these young people this weekend. It's really exciting. It says a lot about community spirit,” Richards said.

While the fate of the Weyburn Leisure Centre remains undetermined, Richards says that they city plans to have the ice rink up and running again by Christmas.