Yellowknife holds celebration to formally open new aquatic centre

Yellowknife held an official opening ceremony for its new pool on Saturday morning, with dozens of residents in attendance.

The $72-million aquatic centre has been visited 18,000 times since its soft launch in May, officials say.

Grant White, the city’s director of community services, said the past four months allowed extra time to train staff, test equipment, deal with technical changes and get through the busy summer.

Though some mechanical work remains, he said it should be completed soon and will not affect operations.

“Working with my team has been fantastic. The culmination of all of our efforts over years of work, it’s dominated all of our lives for three or four years, depending on when people came into the project,” he told Cabin Radio.

“Then, of course, welcoming the community is really what this facility is all about … being able to provide a great opportunity for kids, youth, seniors, everybody to have a nice, healthy place to come, pursue their fitness, pursue their social activities, and just come in and enjoy the facility.”

City manager Stephen Van Dine said the team had been working “feverishly” in recent months to get the facility ready, and Saturday’s event served as a chance to celebrate the effort behind the multi-year project.

Van Dine described it as a “remarkable achievement” to bring together “several different parts of the community to forge a real, what I would call, the crown jewel of our facilities within the city.”

He noted he is interested both in seeing how residents enjoy and use the space, and in monitoring how well it functions.

“A project of this nature – it was sort-of a first for the city – so there are lots of new things to try and work through,” he said.

“In terms of surprises, I would say that there was always something that we probably tried to anticipate. And then, despite as much planning and anticipation, you always get the odd curveball, but that’s normal for any major project.

“I’m really impressed with how people came together and problem-solved and most importantly, stayed on budget.”

President of the North Slave Métis Alliance Marc Whitford said the opening of the centre is an important milestone and a source of pride for the community. He highlighted the facility’s thoughtful design, which incorporates cultural elements reflecting the history and identity of Indigenous peoples.

“It’s rewarding to see this collaboration brought to life in such a meaningful and visible way,” he said in a speech.

“It’s already become a vibrant hub of energy, learning and connection.”

Minister Caitlin Cleveland said it has been encouraging to witness children come together and enjoy the pool over the summer. She noted it’s especially meaningful that they are choosing to spend time at the facility rather than elsewhere in the community.

NWT MP and former Yellowknife mayor Rebecca Alty reflected on her own early swimming experiences in the basement of Fraser Tower before the Ruth Inch Memorial Pool opened.

“We eagerly awaited the end of public swim, when the wave pool would begin. And as fun as that was, it was being able to bring us there to learn to swim, so that we can go about our life,” she said. “This pool is bringing it to that next level.”

Acknowledging the challenges faced during construction, including supply chain delays and the 2023 wildfire evacuation, Mayor Ben Hendriksen praised the perseverance of the team.

He thanked the federal and territorial government, the design and construction teams, and city staff for bringing the project to life.

“The aquatic centre joins other [recreation] spaces as another cornerstone of what makes our city great,” he said.

“It’s investment in our health and our community connections and our future.”