Baby, it’s cold outside – come in for a swim!
Head for a swim, sauna, and hot tub every Saturday at the Mary Ann Moore Wellness Centre, or buy a punch card and swim away
BY KIM LANGEN
If you haven’t tested the mild waters yet at Killarney’s new swimming pool, this weekend is your chance to get wet.
The Mary Ann Moore Wellness Centre is opening the doors to their private salt water pool for three hours on Saturdays, starting February 3, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Owner Jaqueline Dickson said the public swims will provide a great opportunity to enjoy their wonderful facilities, especially for local families.
“It’s $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and kids aged six to 17, or you can get a family pass for five people for $22, which is terrific value,” she said. “Kids under six get to swim for free. But all kids aged 12 and under cannot be left unattended.”
The peaceful pool, which is four feet deep, is set in a huge cathedral-ceilinged room of its own at the centre.
There are steps and a guardrail leading into the pool, and sunlight filters in through high windows and lights up the water.
In one corner of the big room is also a bubbling hot tub; while at the far end there is a spacious dry sauna, with fragrant cedar seating, and windows to allow natural light in.
There are also washrooms with showers adjoining the pool area, and free lockers, plus a shower right ‘on deck’ to rinse off comfortably before entering the water.
The Wellness Centre will be hiring a lifeguard for the public swims, as required by provincial regulations.
The rest of the time the private facility is run using what are described as memberships, also part of the regulations.
But it’s not like joining a country club – it’s simply how a private pool must run so that a lifeguard is not required around the clock, said Dickson.
Being a member just means you buy a number of visits in advance, and turn up for a swim when you fancy one.
“Buying a punch card makes you a member,” she explained. “It’s just a way to legally operate a small, private pool in a small town. You can buy a card for five visits for $62.50, plus GST, or for 10 visits for $115, plus GST. We keep the cards here at our reception, and when you sign in, it means you can use the pool facilities all that day, if you want to. You can also come in the morning, and come back again in the evening, all on that visit. It includes the pool, the hot tub, the sauna, a fresh towel, the shower room, and a free locker. And the cards do not have an expiry date.”
The centre also offers aquafit classes in the pool several times a week, and the membership card for this popular exercise runs at five classes for $55 plus GST, or 10 classes for $100 plus GST.
You can work it out in the water with the aquafit instructor on Monday mornings and evenings, on Tuesday mornings, on Wednesday evenings, and on Thursday morning.
And on Mondays and Thursday mornings (from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.) it’s Moms and Babes Swim time.
For more information about the pool, and memberships, you can call the Mary Ann Moore Wellness Centre at 204-523-8629, drop in to the reception desk at the Mountain Avenue entrance, or visit their website at www.mamwellness.ca.
