Pan Am Pool

Last updated
Pan Am Pool
Pan Am Pool - Exterior 2.jpg
Building information
City Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Coordinates 49°51′18.7″N97°10′23.28″W / 49.855194°N 97.1731333°W / 49.855194; -97.1731333 Coordinates: 49°51′18.7″N97°10′23.28″W / 49.855194°N 97.1731333°W / 49.855194; -97.1731333
Capacity2,300 [1]
Built1967
OpenedJuly 1, 1967;55 years ago (July 1, 1967)
Architect(s) Smith Carter Searle
OwnerCity of Winnipeg
Home club(s) Manitoba Marlins, Manta Swim Club, Manitoba Masters Aquatic Club
Website Official website

The Pan Am Pool is an indoor swimming facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada built for the 1967 Pan American Games. It is located in southwest Winnipeg and consists of three pools: two are used for competitive swimming and one is a children's "kiddie pool".

Contents

Overview

Architecture

The Pan Am's commissioners were motivated by an ambitious social policy of providing recreational opportunities to a wide population. As such, The Pan Am Pool features many characteristics of Brutalist architecture: the exterior of the centre presents four enormous bare concrete walls suspended above a vertically-patterned concrete main level, while the interior also made extensive use of béton brut in a "typically Brutalist manner". [2] Another example is the heavy mullions of the narrow clerestory windows. At the time of its completion, the pool facility placed among the top five in the world and featured the only 10-metre (33 ft) diving tower in Canada. [3] The tower includes platforms at three, five, seven and a half, and ten metres. [2]

Tanks

The main tank is 23 metres (25 yd) wide. For swimming competitions the main part of the pool can be adjusted for either a long course (50 m) or short course (25 m) lengths by means of a movable bulkhead to divide it into sections for competitive swimming and family swimming. [4] The bulkhead can also be set to 15 m for competitions, or 30 m for water polo.

The dive tank is part of the main pool and has a depth of 4.9 metres (16 ft). It consists of a pair of one-metre springboards, a pair of three-metre springboards, and one each of 3, 5, 7.5 and 10 metre platforms. The pool also has a climbing rope (3 m) near the diving towers.

Fitness area

The facility has a track and two weight rooms.

History

Planning and finance

Planning for Pan Am Pool started when the City of Winnipeg became host city for the 1967 Pan Am Games. In March 1963, the Mayors and Reeves Association of Greater Winnipeg met to ask Metro Winnipeg to contribute funds for a high-quality swimming pool. Originally there were to be two outdoor types, one located in the Assiniboine Park area, the other in the Kildonan Park area. However, Metro Councillor Jack Willis stated at the time that if they were to apply for provincial and federal grants, a much better, indoor swimming pool could be built for the Games and used afterwards. [5]

By January 1964, little progress had been made, and there were important details that needed to be finalized over the shape of the pool – L-shaped or parallel rectangles. Metro had budgeted Can$ 200,000 in their 1964 Capital Works Program. Construction would have to commence no later than the winter of 1964–65 in order to be ready for the 1967 Games. [6]

The Pan Am Games (1967) Society decided to build a $1 million indoor enclosed Olympic-size pool in the Grant Park area, adjacent to Grant Park High School. [7]

The land parcel, bounded by Cambridge, Grant, Nathaniel, Taylor,[ specify ] was owned by the Winnipeg School Division. The land exchange deal for the 8-acre (3.2 ha) site met opposition which threatened to delay the construction timetable. Winnipeg Alderman Lillian Hallonquist, at a January 1966 Finance Committee meeting, stated "the whole location is wrong" because the Grant Park site would not be easily accessible from other parts of the metro area. Alderman Grant McLeod expressed fears that Pan Am Pool would become a financial white elephant after the Games were over. [8] The deal was approved in a vote at a January 17, 1966, City Council meeting, and 8.75 acres of city-owned property was exchanged to the Division for the 8-acre pool site. One of the potential sites studied was next to the Winnipeg Arena. The design of the Pool would be two-thirds the size of the Winnipeg Arena. [9] Once completed, the facility would be able to accommodate over 1,000 recreational swimmers at once. [10]

The firm of Smith Carter Searle was chosen to design the pool. Six construction tenders were submitted for the pool, the lowest of which was more than twice the original estimate for the facility. Pearson Construction Co. Ltd.'s bid pegged the cost at over $2.5 million. [11] The city's original pitch estimated the net cost of the games at $1.3 million, but by fall 1965 this had risen to over $3 million. Among the additional costs was about $250,000 to put a roof on the pool, which was not required for the games but was desired for year-round use. Although an agreement based on the original estimate divided the cost in thirds between the federal and provincial governments and municipalities, the city expected the federal government to pay the overruns. [12] After cost estimates were made public, the Pan Am Games (1967) Society asked Ottawa for an additional $1.5 million in funding. [13]

With only 13 months before the beginning of the Games, there was no physical building sufficient to host the swimming events. Vaughn L. Baird, chairman of the Canadian Council of Diving, urged all those involved in the project to accelerate the process:

There is little construction time left. The government of Manitoba has agreed the government of Canada dollar for dollar to cover the Pan Am Pool. It is of the utmost urgency that the government of Canada render a decision quickly. [14]

In the spring, it was announced that trials to select Canada's diving team would take place July 1–3 at the new pool. [15] But an ad published in the Free Press listed the trials would take place July 1–6. [16] [17]

Pan Am Games Society and construction officials (Pearson?) denied that the venue would be incomplete for the games in early July, despite that the majority of the interior, electrical and mechanical work was unfinished in mid-May. [18]

At their May 1967 meeting, the civic Parks & Recreation Committee made an appeal to Winnipeg city council for $98,000 to go towards equipment, of which $22,000 would be spent on furniture, $20,000 on lockers, $1,500 for hair dryers, and $40,000 for an asphalt parking lot. [19] Later that month, $6,000 was allocated for display cases for the Swimming Hall of Fame. [20]

Life of the facility

The pool was officially opened on 21 July 1967, the day before the games began. Two thousand people packed the stands for the ceremony which included federal finance minister Mitchell Sharp, Manitoba Attorney General Sterling Lyon and Winnipeg mayor Steven Juba, pouring bottles of water from the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans into the pool from the bulkhead. This was followed by synchronized swimming and diving demonstrations. [4]

At the time of its completion, the pool facility placed among the top five in the world and featured the only 10-metre (33 ft) diving tower in Canada. [21] Six months after the Games, Winnipeg was chosen to hold the 1968 Canadian Olympic swim trials. Montreal had vied for the competition but did not have a suitable pool to use and could not budget one due to costs of Expo 67. Halifax had been chosen for the 1968 Canadian diving trials. [22] In the pool's first seven years of operation it had the highest attendance and revenue of any indoor pool in North America and hosted all of Canada's major aquatic competitions. [2]

The Pan Am Pool underwent several expansions in the 1990s leading up to the 1999 Pan American Games, which it also hosted. [4]

Renovations and refurbishments (2012-2019)

In October 2012, the Pan Am Pool was partially shut down due to mechanical issues. [23] Various upgrades were made in 2016 to prepare for the 2017 Canada Summer Games. [24] In 2018, major renovations were announced to the ceiling, lighting and public address system, the upgrades expected to cost $2.6 million. [25] [26] It reopened in January 2019 after a two-year, $3.4 million refurbishment. [4]

Swim Clubs

The first swim club to announce their presence at Pan Am Pool was the Cardinal Swim Club. [27] The Pan Am Pool is also home to the Manta Swim Club, The Manitoba Marlins and The Manitoba Masters Aquatic Club swim teams and also hosts the Vortex water polo team.

Aquatic Hall of Fame & Museum

Since 1967, the pool hosted the Aquatic Hall of Fame and Museum of Canada. [28] [29] In 1999, a separate building housing the collection was completed for the '99 Games. However, in 2006, a 40-year deal had concluded and the Aquatic Hall of Fame was told to vacate. [30]

The museum portion features a 9-foot statue of Poseidon, Greek god of the sea. [31]

The museum is open daily from 7 am to 10 pm. There is no charge for admission.

Pan Am Clinic

The Pan Am Clinic, in a separate building next to the Pool, is a specialized sports injury unit, opened in 1979. It operated as a privately run clinic from its initial opening until 2001, when the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) assumed responsibility for it.

Notable competitions

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kildonan Park</span> Regional park in West Kildonan (Winnipeg), Canada

Kildonan Park is a park in the West Kildonan area of northern Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sleeman Centre (Brisbane)</span> Sporting and entertainment facility located in Brisbane, Queensland

The Sleeman Centre is a sporting and entertainment facility located in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Construction of the centre was completed in 1982. Located on Old Cleveland Road in the suburb of Chandler, the centre is 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) east of Brisbane's CBD and is home to an aquatic centre, velodrome, sports arena, gymnastics training hall, gymnasium, and auditorium. The centre currently offers a range of services to the public, including indoor and outdoor community activities such as swimming, diving, health and fitness classes, a gymnasium, childcare facilities, and a children's pool and water slide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1967 Pan American Games</span> 5th edition of the Pan American Games

The 1967 Pan American Games were held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, from July 23 to August 6, 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1999 Pan American Games</span> International sports competition

The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding towns and cities. Canoeing competitions started the day before the games officially begun. Approximately 5,000 athletes from 42 nations participated at the games. A total of 330 medal events in 34 sports and 42 disciplines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aquatic Hall of Fame and Museum of Canada</span> Sports museum in MB, Canada.

The Canadian Aquatic Hall of Fame is a museum dedicated to water sports in Canada—namely swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, and water polo—and is located at the Pan Am Pool in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Grant Park is a neighbourhood in the River Heights area of southern Winnipeg, Manitoba. Its general boundaries are Grant Avenue to the north, Stafford Street to the east, the CNR Mainline to the south, and Cambridge Street to the west.

The Manitoba Marlins Swim Club is a competitive swim club founded over 38 years ago based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Marlins are members of Swim Manitoba and Swimming Canada. They operate out of the Pan Am Pool, the aquatics site for the 1999 Pan American Games, the largest sporting event ever held in Canada, and the third largest ever in North America. Swimmers from the Manitoba Marlins have gone on to swim in national and international competitions, from competitions within the province to the Olympics. The Marlins host the annual Golden Plains Invitational attracting competitors from across the country.

University Stadium is a multipurpose stadium located on the campus grounds of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It features a 400m 8-lane track, as well as separate areas for long jump/triple jump, high jump, pole vault, discus, hammer, shot put, and javelin. Inside the track is a large natural grass field used for football and soccer. The stadium was home to the Manitoba Bisons football program until the team relocated next door to Investors Group Field in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catie Ball</span> American swimmer

Catharine Ball Condon, née Catharine Northcutt Ball, is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in three events. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. 4×100-meter medley relay team. Ball is a former world record holder in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke events, and is remembered as a teenage star who was the dominant female breaststroke swimmer of her generation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug Russell (swimmer)</span> American swimmer

Douglas Albert Russell is an American former competitive swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in three different events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre</span>

The Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre is an aquatics centre that is part of the City of Sports Complex in the Barra da Tijuca district of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is part of the investments made by the city to host the swimming, synchronized swimming and diving competitions of the 2007 Pan American Games. During the 2016 Summer Olympics, it hosted group matches of water polo and the synchronised swimming and diving competitions. The name of the water park is a tribute to the Brazilian swimmer, Maria Lenk, who died less than three months before its inauguration.

Angela Denise Coughlan, O.Ont. was a Canadian competition swimmer. At the peak of her competitive swimming career from 1968 to 1971, she was the best Canadian female freestyle specialist, going undefeated in freestyle events at Canadian meets during that time, as well as breaking a world record and 13 Canadian national long course records. As a member of the Canadian national swim team, she anchored the 4x100-metre freestyle and 4x100-metre medley relay teams, and earned both individual and team relay medals at the 1967 Pan American Games, the 1968 Olympics, the 1970 Commonwealth Games and the 1971 Pan American Games. Named Canadian Female Athlete of the Year in 1970, she retired from competitive swimming in 1972 at the age of 19. Part of her post-competitive career was spent as a swim coach and mentor to younger swimmers. She was inducted into the Ontario Aquatic Hall of Fame and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame.

The Swimming competition at the 5th Pan American Games was held at the Pan Am Pool in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, during the Games' run in 1967. It consisted of 29 long course (50m) events: 15 for males and 14 for females:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stride Place</span>

Stride Place, formerly known as the Portage Credit Union Centre, is a multipurpose sports and recreation complex located in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada. The facility opened in February 2010 and features two ice hockey arenas, an aquatic centre, and a fitness centre. Outdoor sports facilities are also located on site.

The Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre is a sports complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Co-owned by the City of Toronto and the University of Toronto Scarborough, it is operated by TPASC Inc., with programming offered by both the university and Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation. It is located at the northern grounds of the university's Scarborough campus near the intersection of Highway 401 and Morningside Avenue in the suburb of Scarborough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chantal Van Landeghem</span> Canadian swimmer

Chantal Jean van Landeghem is a Canadian competition swimmer who specializes in the freestyle and butterfly events. She won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics as part of the women's 4 x 100 m relay, this was Canada's first relay medal in that event for forty years. Van Landeghem is the reigning 100-metre freestyle and 4 × 100-metre freestyle champion in the Pan American Games, setting games records in both events. Van Landeghem is currently studying and competing through the University of Georgia. She was a competitor for Manitoba at the 2009 Canada Summer Games where she won two gold, a silver, and a bronze medal.

Judy Stewart is a Canadian diver. She competed in two events at the 1964 Summer Olympics. She was coached by champion diver Don Webb and won medals in the 1963 Pan American Games and the 1965 British Swimming Championships. Stewart was a former gymnast and married golfer Phil Brownlee in January 1966 and later retired from competitive diving that year.

The 1999 Pan American Games were held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding area. The Pan American Games ran from July 23 to August 8, 1999.

Jennifer McArton is a former Canadian diver. During the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, she won a silver medal in the women's 10 metre highboard event.

References

  1. ↑ "Pan Am Pool". Winnipeg Architecture Foundation. Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 "[25 Poseidon Bay]". Winnipeg Architecture Foundation. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  3. ↑ "Pan-Am Pool Construction Progressing". Winnipeg Free Press. April 8, 1967. p. 53.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Pan Am Pool initially billed as "a mecca for Canadian swimmers"". Winnipeg Real Estate News. Winnipeg Realtors. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  5. ↑ "Metro Plunge in Pan-Am Pool?". Winnipeg Free Press. March 20, 1963. p. 12.
  6. ↑ "Pan American Games to be Tune Up for Olympic Teams". Winnipeg Free Press. January 14, 1964. p. 4.
  7. ↑ Chusid, Shelley (May 5, 1965). "Pan Am Pool Sited Okayed by Committee: Projected Olympic-sized Facility to be Near Grant Park School". Winnipeg Free Press. p. 3.
  8. ↑ "Pan Am Site Rejected by Group". Winnipeg Free Press. January 14, 1966. p. 45.
  9. ↑ "Pan Am Pool For Grant Park". Winnipeg Free Press. January 18, 1966. p. 3.
  10. ↑ "Pan-Am Briefs". Brandon Sun. March 2, 1967. p. 14.
  11. ↑ "Lowest Pan-Am Pool Bid Double Estimate". Winnipeg Free Press. May 4, 1966. p. 3.
  12. ↑ Dafoe, John W. (February 6, 1965). "The chips are down in Pan-Am poker game". The Globe and Mail . p. 8. ProQuest   1270644578. – via  ProQuest (subscription required)
  13. ↑ "Pan-Am Pool Cost Soars; Plea To Ottawa In Works". Winnipeg Free Press. May 12, 1966. p. 3.
  14. ↑ "Pool Decision Urged". Winnipeg Free Press. June 16, 1966. p. 25.
  15. ↑ Townsley, John (March 17, 1967). "U.S. Pan-Am Officials Plan To Visit Winnipeg". Winnipeg Free Press. p. 38.
  16. ↑ "Pan-Am Pool Preview Planned". Winnipeg Free Press. June 6, 1967. p. 20.
  17. ↑ "Pan-Am Swimming and Diving Trials: Canadian National Championships". Winnipeg Free Press. June 3, 1967. p. 52.
  18. ↑ "Pan-Am Pool 'On Time'". Winnipeg Free Press. May 12, 1967. pp. 1, 11.
  19. ↑ "Parks Committee Seeking $98,000 For Pan-Am Pool". Winnipeg Free Press. May 17, 1967. p. 47.
  20. ↑ "Pan-Am Pool Showcases Win OK By Juba's Vote". Winnipeg Free Press. May 24, 1967. p. 23.
  21. ↑ "Pan-Am Pool Construction Progressing". Winnipeg Free Press. April 8, 1967. p. 53.
  22. ↑ Hainstock, Bob (February 16, 1968). "'68 Swim Trials For City". p. 1.
  23. ↑ "Pan Am Pool partially closed due to mechanical issues". CBC Manitoba. October 10, 2012.
  24. ↑ "Pan Am Pool to be shut down for 2 months". CBC Manitoba. July 15, 2016. Archived from the original on May 12, 2018.
  25. ↑ Foxall, Diana (2018-02-15). "Program shuffle, closures possible as Pan Am pool gets major facelift". Global News. Archived from the original on 2018-07-26. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  26. ↑ "$2.6M renovation on Pan Am pool to begin in July". CBC Manitoba. February 15, 2018. Archived from the original on August 6, 2018. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  27. ↑ "New Swim Club Formed". Winnipeg Free Press. May 16, 1967. p. 25.
  28. ↑ "Pan-Am Pool Gets A Name". Winnipeg Free Press. March 28, 1967. p. 3.
  29. ↑ "Pan-Am Pool To Become Swimming's Hall Of Fame". Winnipeg Free Press. April 15, 1967. p. 59.
  30. ↑ "Aquatic museum forced out of city pool". CBC Manitoba. July 20, 2006.
  31. ↑ Simon, Ilana (May 17, 2000). "Pool's aquatic hall of fame a national treasure house". Winnipeg Free Press. p. 74.
  32. ↑ "Pan Am Pool". 2017 Canada Games. 2015-10-07. Archived from the original on 2018-07-26. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.