The City of Flin Flon is hoping to get people to dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge to raise money to replace the Flin Flon Aqua Centre.
The City’s recreation board plans to host its first official fundraising event for the pool project later this month, a St. Patrick’s Day-themed dodgeball tournament.
The tournament will take place March 19 at the Flin Flon Community Hall, starting at 3 p.m. and running into the evening with a social to follow. According to City recreation, teams can sign up on the City’s website and can include between six and eight people, with at least two female team members.
With the pool project moving ahead, the City plans to increase community fundraising to help build the new facility. Millions in grant money from the provincial and federal governments has already been received to build a new pool, likely in Willowvale on the former site of the Willow Park Curling Club building. The City has enlisted Winnipeg-based firm Ernst Hansch Construction to design and build a new pool complex.
Millions of dollars in funding has already been approved from the Manitoba and federal governments, but like other large-scale projects like the upgrades to the Flin Flon General Hospital emergency department, some funds will have to be raised through community contributions.
The next steps with the pool project are to approve a pre-design preliminary proposal, which will need to be signed off on by a steering committee. Public consultation meetings are also planned to be held later this year, as will be, tentatively, another fundraiser - organizers are planning charity bingo events for the late spring and early summer.
“Additional work is being completed by staff and consultants to ensure the Aqua Centre is accessible, efficient and most importantly, built to the highest standard of quality possible, where the city of Flin Flon and area will benefit from the finished product for years to come,” reads an update from City recreation director Andrew Smith.
