$25 million pool redevelopment opens with a splash in Oshawa

Seven years from the closing of the old pool and nearly $25 million later, the new Rotary Park Pool is open and if the responses from the community are any indication, the wait has been worth it.

Oshawa Councillor Brian Nicholson, whose ward abuts the new park, said a post on his socials on opening day with some pictures of the pool, splashpad and playground was viewed by more than 100,000 people over a five-day period.

“I am humbled by the positive response from Oshawa residents,” Nicholson said, calling it “overwhelming.”

“I am confident that this response is mirrored by the larger Oshawa community.”

Summer fun at Rotary Park was something Oshawa residents took for granted for nearly a century, with the pool a big part of that trip down memory lane for locals. But all that changed in 2019 when major structural faults were discovered in the pool and the city shut it down at the end of the season.

Two years later the pool was the overwhelming first choice (80 per cent) for rebirth in a 2021 survey, with the cost at the time for a new leisure pool, major splash pad and playground amenities pegged at about $8 million.

Then the pandemic hit and the rising supply chain issues that plagued construction projects all over the globe drove the price up to nearly $19 million by late 2023.

Residents and taxpayers made it clear they wanted their pool back, however, and the city chose the redevelopment of the park as the city’s centennial year Legacy Project and awarded the construction in early 2024 to create a new park at Gibb and Centre Street, just south of downtown.

By that summer the city was declaring the nearly $25 million project on schedule, with the summer of 2025 targeted for opening day.

That date soon became “later in 2025,” followed by an undeclared date in 2026 before council finally narrowed it down to the summer of ’26, prompting Nicholson and fellow councillor Tito-Dante Marimpietri to call on council to waive swimming fees for Oshawa residents on a first-come, first-served basis for the first full year of operation of the pool, with eligibility drafted to ensure “fair and equitable access.”

The rebuilt Rotary Park and Pool has transformed the site into a modern recreational hub with a new outdoor pool featuring four swimming lanes, a zero-entry area and a toddler pool. The project also includes a destination playground, a splash pad, enhanced pathways, a redesigned parking lot and other amenities.

Residents celebrated the completion of the outdoor pool on July 22 with two free swims from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

While the pool, splash pad, and playground will be open for public use, some finishing touches from the contractor are still underway.

Oshawa residents can enjoy free leisure swims all summer long with a free Rotary Park Pool season pass that allows them to attend drop-in leisure swims during scheduled times by checking in and scanning your pass card as well as register for free swimming lessons.

Visit oshawa.ca/Rotary and oshawa.ca/RotaryPool to learn more about this project and the free swim schedule.