Pan Am Pool

{{Main|Smith Carter#Pan Am Pool}}

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". 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 {{convert|10|m|adj=on}} diving tower in Canada.{{Cite news |title=Pan-Am Pool Construction Progressing |date=April 8, 1967 |work=Winnipeg Free Press |page=53}} The tower includes platforms at three, five, seven and a half, and ten metres.

The main tank is {{convert|25|yd|m|order=flip}} 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. 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 {{convert|16|ft|m|order=flip}}. 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.

The facility has a track and two weight rooms.

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.{{Cite news|title=Metro Plunge in Pan-Am Pool?|date=March 20, 1963|work=Winnipeg Free Press|page=12}}

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 {{currency|200,000|CAD}} 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.{{Cite news|title=Pan American Games to be Tune Up for Olympic Teams|date=January 14, 1964|work=Winnipeg Free Press|page=4}}

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.{{Cite news|title=Pan Am Pool Sited Okayed by Committee: Projected Olympic-sized Facility to be Near Grant Park School|last=Chusid|first=Shelley|date=May 5, 1965|work=Winnipeg Free Press|page=3}}

The land parcel, bounded by Cambridge, Grant, Nathaniel, Taylor,{{specify|date=November 2019|are these streets, roads, etc? Some confusion if Grant might refer to the school or park boundary}} was owned by the Winnipeg School Division. The land exchange deal for the {{convert|8|acre|adj=on}} 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.{{Cite news|title=Pan Am Site Rejected by Group|date=January 14, 1966|work=Winnipeg Free Press|page=45}} 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.{{Cite news|title=Pan Am Pool For Grant Park|date=January 18, 1966|work=Winnipeg Free Press|page=3}} Once completed, the facility would be able to accommodate over 1,000 recreational swimmers at once.{{Cite news|title=Pan-Am Briefs|date=March 2, 1967|work=Brandon Sun|page=14}}

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.{{Cite news|title=Lowest Pan-Am Pool Bid Double Estimate|date=May 4, 1966|work=Winnipeg Free Press|page=3}} 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.{{cite news|first=John W.|last=Dafoe|title=The chips are down in Pan-Am poker game|work=The Globe and Mail|page=8|date=February 6, 1965|id={{ProQuest|1270644578}}}}{{subscription required|via=ProQuest}} After cost estimates were made public, the Pan Am Games (1967) Society asked Ottawa for an additional $1.5 million in funding.{{Cite news|title=Pan-Am Pool Cost Soars; Plea To Ottawa In Works|date=May 12, 1966|work=Winnipeg Free Press|page=3}}

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.{{Cite news|title=Pool Decision Urged|date=June 16, 1966|work=Winnipeg Free Press|page=25}}

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.{{Cite news|title=Pan-Am Pool 'On Time'|date=May 12, 1967|work=Winnipeg Free Press|pages=1, 11}}

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.{{Cite news|title=Parks Committee Seeking $98,000 For Pan-Am Pool|date=May 17, 1967|work=Winnipeg Free Press|page=47}} Later that month, $6,000 was allocated for display cases for the Swimming Hall of Fame.{{Cite news|title=Pan-Am Pool Showcases Win OK By Juba's Vote|date=May 24, 1967|work=Winnipeg Free Press|page=23}}

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.{{cite news |title=Pan Am Pool initially billed as "a mecca for Canadian swimmers" |url=https://www.winnipegrealestatenews.com/publications/real-estate-news/3896/pan-am-pool-initially-billed-as-a-mecca-for-canadian-swimmers |accessdate=25 December 2019 |work=Winnipeg Real Estate News |publisher=Winnipeg Realtors |date=12 July 2019}}

At the time of its completion, the pool facility placed among the top five in the world and featured the only {{convert|10|m|adj=on}} diving tower in Canada.{{Cite news|title=Pan-Am Pool Construction Progressing|date=April 8, 1967|work=Winnipeg Free Press|page=53}} 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.{{Cite news|title='68 Swim Trials For City|last=Hainstock|first=Bob|date=February 16, 1968|page=1}} 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.{{cite web |title=[25 Poseidon Bay] |url=https://www.winnipegarchitecture.ca/25-poseidon-bay/ |website=Winnipeg Architecture Foundation |accessdate=25 December 2019}}

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

In October 2012, the Pan Am Pool was partially shut down due to mechanical issues.{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/pan-am-pool-partially-closed-due-to-mechanical-issues-1.1275187|title=Pan Am Pool partially closed due to mechanical issues|date=October 10, 2012|work=CBC Manitoba}} Various upgrades were made in 2016 to prepare for the 2017 Canada Summer Games.{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/pan-am-pool-closure-winnipeg-1.3680961|title=Pan Am Pool to be shut down for 2 months|date=July 15, 2016|work=CBC Manitoba|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180512123244/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/pan-am-pool-closure-winnipeg-1.3680961|archive-date=May 12, 2018|url-status=live}} In 2018, major renovations were announced to the ceiling, lighting and public address system, the upgrades expected to cost $2.6 million.{{Cite news|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/4028103/program-shuffle-closures-possible-as-pan-am-pool-gets-major-facelift/|title=Program shuffle, closures possible as Pan Am pool gets major facelift|last=Foxall|first=Diana|date=2018-02-15|work=Global News|access-date=2018-07-26|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726135506/https://globalnews.ca/news/4028103/program-shuffle-closures-possible-as-pan-am-pool-gets-major-facelift/|archive-date=2018-07-26|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-pan-am-pool-upgrades-1.4537735|title=$2.6M renovation on Pan Am pool to begin in July|date=February 15, 2018|work=CBC Manitoba|access-date=August 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806094657/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-pan-am-pool-upgrades-1.4537735|archive-date=August 6, 2018|url-status=live}} It reopened in January 2019 after a two-year, $3.4 million refurbishment.

The first swim club to announce their presence at Pan Am Pool was the Cardinal Swim Club.{{Cite news|title=New Swim Club Formed|date=May 16, 1967|work=Winnipeg Free Press|page=25}} 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.

{{Main|Aquatic Hall of Fame and Museum of Canada}}

Since 1967, the pool hosted the Aquatic Hall of Fame and Museum of Canada.{{Cite news|title=Pan-Am Pool Gets A Name|date=March 28, 1967|work=Winnipeg Free Press|page=3}}{{Cite news|title=Pan-Am Pool To Become Swimming's Hall Of Fame|date=April 15, 1967|work=Winnipeg Free Press|page=59}} 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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/aquatic-museum-forced-out-of-city-pool-1.617907|title=Aquatic museum forced out of city pool|date=July 20, 2006|work=CBC Manitoba}}

The museum portion features a 9-foot statue of Poseidon, Greek god of the sea.{{Cite news|title=Pool's aquatic hall of fame a national treasure house|last=Simon|first=Ilana|date=May 17, 2000|work=Winnipeg Free Press|page=74}}

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

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.

File:Pan Am Pool Exterior 3.jpg| Pan Am Pool - Exterior (from Grant Ave.)

File:Pan Am Pool - Exterior 1.jpg| Pan Am Pool - Exterior Main entrance

File:Pan Am Pool - Exterior 2.jpg| Pan Am Aquatic Hall of Fame & Museum

File:Winnipeg_2006-2007_144.jpg|Interior pool area

• 1967 Pan Am Games
• 1990 Western Canada Summer Games
• 1999 Pan Am Games
• 1999 FINA Women's Water Polo Cup
• 2017 Canada Summer Games{{Cite news|url=https://www.canadagames.ca/2017/content/pan-am-pool-0|title=Pan Am Pool|date=2015-10-07|work=2017 Canada Games|access-date=2018-07-26|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726135047/https://www.canadagames.ca/2017/content/pan-am-pool-0|archive-date=2018-07-26|url-status=live}}

• Fifth Pan-American Games, July 22-August 7, 1967: (Winnipeg, Man.), Macfarlane Communication Services, 1969.

{{Reflist}}

• [http://winnipeg.ca/cms/recreation/facilities/pools/indoor_pools/pan_am.stm Pan Am Pool (official website)]
• [https://www.winnipegarchitecture.ca/25-poseidon-bay/ Winnipeg Architecture Foundation - Pan Am Pool]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20181224154616/http://manitobamarlins.com/ Manitoba Marlins Swim Club]
• [http://www.mmac.mb.ca/ Manitoba Masters Aquatic Club]
• [https://www.teamunify.com/team/canmbmsc/page/home Manta Swim Club]

Category:Buildings and structures in Winnipeg

Category:Swimming venues in Canada

Category:Sports venues in Winnipeg

Category:Sports venues completed in 1967

Category:1967 Pan American Games

Category:Venues of the 1999 Pan American Games

Category:River Heights, Winnipeg