Pool clubhouse to rise from ashes

BY ANDY BLATCHFORD

andy.blatchford@transcontinental.ca

Four months after a fire ripped through the Cedar Park Pool clubhouse, Pointe Claire officials are sketching plans to rebuild in time for the summer swimming season. On the morning of Sept. 28, a blaze torched half of the main building at the popular swim club. The office, first-aid station and lifeguard changing rooms were destroyed, according to Cedar Park president Vouli Meletakos. But the pump room and washrooms survived, ensuring the pool will open in June as usual, even if the new clubhouse is not complete, he said.

“The part (of the building) that really serves our members was not damaged, so I don’t see a problem with it opening up,” Meletakos said. “(Pointe Claire) is committed to getting the job done and I have every confidence that they will.”

Cedar Park’s membership is comprised of more than 200 families, he said.

Insurance will cover the entire cost of reconstruction, but the city is on the hook for the $25,000 deductible, said Pointe Claire spokesman Ginette Brisebois. She said Pointe Claire’s engineering department did not want to disclose how much the project will cost — because the design phase is not finished — however, the city listed a $250,000 estimate in its 2007 capital expenditures document. “The target is to have everything done by the end of June, maximum,” she added.

Following the fire’s investigation, police zeroed in on a suspect, but no charges were laid.The same morning of the blaze, several crimes were reported at residences close to the Robinsdale Avenue pool, local police said.

At the club, investigators found an empty gas can that was missing from a nearby home, Const. Liliana Belucci of Montreal police Station 5. It had been filled with fuel when it was stolen, she added.

“There wasn’t enough proof to accuse the suspect,” Const. Hélène Jubinville of Station 5 told The Chronicle. “The case is closed.”