A Central Elgin resident is determined to create big waves over closure of the therapy pool at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital.
Former Central Elgin Mayor Sally Martyn is the spokesperson for a group of pool users who have banded together in an effort to re-open the pool that closed in July.
Martyn tells myFM the goal is to meet with hospital President and CEO Karen Davies.
According to a release from the hospital, on July 10th, a failure in the pool system caused the flooding of adjacent, critical hospital areas, resulting in severe infrastructure damage.
Following the incident, the pool was immediately drained, and STEGH called upon a third-party mechanical engineer to assess the damage.
The report revealed that the infrastructure supporting the pool would require approximately $350,000 to repair, and even with these repairs, the risk of another flood cannot be eliminated due to the age and condition of the pool.
The committee has a straightforward question for Davies.
Martin says they now have a petition with over 600 names on it pushing for the pool to re-open.
Thanks to the generosity of long-time hospital employee Barbara Turville, the therapy pool opened in 1990 in the south wing of the hospital.
Martyn stresses the pool is, “absolutely vital to the community and vital to the people the hospital serves.”
Last week we asked St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston whether the city would consider a fundraising proposal from the community to cover the expense of pool repairs.
You can read more about the pool closure here.
