Dear Editor,
While all of the discussions are about the costs of the pool, no one is discussing the costs of not having a pool. This is a much more frightening number. If you think of how many families are now travelling to Westlock, St Albert and Spruce Grove to swim, these families are now spending their money in these communities. While there, they are grocery shopping, fueling up their truck and eating out. These lost sales are going to cost our community hundreds of thousands of dollars; sales that will never be recovered.
I recently spoke with a businessman that is considering starting a new business here who said that if Barrhead does not build a new pool, he is not going to invest in a town that is moving backwards. Not a very nice thought, but a realistic one. How difficult will it be to attract new families, doctors and other professionals, if we do not provide basic recreation? Recreation is part of economic development and it should be treated with the highest importance. Even the Mayor of Calgary recently echoed the importance of recreation to economic development.
The new promotional video may be all for not if we cannot offer swimming to prospective new residents. This will have a negative effect on home/acreage sales, car sales, as well as affecting our grocers, restaurants and even our schools. The long-term costs to the Barrhead community are staggering, something that most residents have not even considered.
Let’s pull together as we always do in this community and build a pool that will last us for 50 years.
Dave Sawatzky
President, Barrhead &District Chamber of Commerce
