$15M in funding for new Windsor pool part of budget
By Frances Willick, The Windsor Star March 30, 2011
Windsor’s Olympic pool dream is one step closer to reality today after sources confirmed that Tuesday’s provincial budget contained $15 million for a municipally-owned aquatic centre on the Western Super Anchor lands in the old parking lots of the Interim Casino.
Photograph by: File photo, The Windsor Star
WINDSOR, Ont. -- Windsor’s Olympic pool dream is one step closer to reality today after sources confirmed that Tuesday’s provincial budget contained $15 million for a municipally-owned aquatic centre.
The source wouldn’t reveal any details of the deal, but said the funding is part of the $35 billion in infrastructure spending slated to take place over the next three years across the province.
Finance Minister Dwight Duncan wouldn’t confirm the province’s financial commitment to the pool project, but said he expects to make announcements that affect Windsor in the coming weeks. We’ll have more to say about that down the road, he said. I can tell you that there are a number of initiatives contained in the budget that are not evident. We’ve worked with the City of Windsor in the past and we look forward to the opportunity of working with them as they lay out their capital plans.
Those capital plans include a recreation facility with an Olympic-sized pool, water slides, a surf simulator and a river run. The complex could also include a marina, a museum and a relocated library branch.
Mayor Eddie Francis also wouldn’t confirm provincial funding for the pool Tuesday night. I don’t know the details of the budget, but what I can say and confirm for you is that the Minister of Finance and I have had several discussions, Francis said. When I saw the budget today and I read that there’s an investment coming in for infrastructure, I read that as being a very positive signal. I was very very pleased.
Windsor-West MPP Sandra Pupatello said she was delighted by Tuesday’s budget. For Windsor, it was a really great budget because it will be investment in our community, partnership with the city, she said. There are some really good signals for Windsor. It’s really great that we’re going to be able to clinch them.
The budget also brought good news for St. Clair College and the University of Windsor.
Duncan announced funding for an additional 60,000 student spaces at colleges and universities across the province by 2015-16 at a cost of $309 million annually.
Representatives of St. Clair College and the University of Windsor said they don’t know how many student spaces the funding will create in Windsor, but the province’s investment will benefit both the school and the city.
They get the message. I think they understand the vital role that colleges play in economic development, said St. Clair College president John Strasser. When you’re building new buildings to increase capacity for students, it is very gratifying to see that the government has put in for new operating funding.
University of Windsor provost Leo Groarke said he hopes the money from the province will boost the school’s enrolment, which is already on the rise. The university has launched a significant recruitment initiative, and I think in the last two years, it’s already started to show some positive results. I think this will allow that to continue.
Other budget highlights for Windsor and Essex County included $150 million for a risk management program for the province’s farmers to help mitigate their expenses during years when costs are higher than expected.