The future of the Clinton pool has been decided by Central Huron council: it will become a lawn.
The pool had been closed since 2022 after Huron Perth Public Health inspectors noted substantial repairs to the pool and cement deck were needed.
Staff conducted a survey in May 2023 to see what the community wanted to do with the pool, and 42 percent of respondents were in favour of replacing it.
Mayor Jim Ginn said not only was replacement cost prohibitive, but there wasn't overwhelming support.
"The biggest obstacle, there was two really, one was the price at $5 million," he said. "The other part was, when we did the survey...at that time the survey was quoting a price at $1.6 million, so if people were not wanting it at $1.6 million, we're pretty sure they didn't want it at $5 million either."
That year-old survey collected just 308 responses. Ginn said more public outcry might have swayed council.
"We didn't hear anything from the public," he said. "I don't do social media, but my understanding is there's a lot of people up in arms, and it's like 'Where were you when we had the open houses?' I think we had like a dozen people come out. If there had been more public support shown when we were asking for input, who knows, maybe the outcome would have been different? But $5 million is still a big price tag."
Ginn said they already spent around $35,000 bringing on the Tillman Ruth Robinson group to complete a design that included all the required upgrades needed to bring the pool and pool house up to current codes. The estimated cost was $5,072,800.
A motion to defer a decision on the pool's future to solicit public funding also didn't pass.
Another option for the space that staff presented included creating a multi-purpose sports pad on the land, but that was passed on due to its proximity to the racetrack.
The option council settled on, to excavate and fill in the pool, while renovating the pool house for seasonal storage, will cost an estimated $200,000.