Swimming enthusiasts who filled the Orangeville council chamber Monday evening successfully pleaded their case to have the Tony Rose Memorial Sports Centre pool remain open.

This was prompted after the Citizens' Commission on Finance suggested the pool should be closed to save the Town money, considering that it's facing a $27 million debt. Closing the pool would result in saving $309,000 in operating costs.

However, there would be costs associated with closing the pool.

For the last three years residents have been coming to council meetings fighting for the Town to keep the pool open, said Doris Puckering, who was speaking on behalf of aquafit members. She said there is no better way to keep fit than swimming since it's easy on your joints.

Ms. Puckering told council members, sitting as the Committee of the Whole Council, that she sees no reason why the pool should close.

With children facing obesity at a higher rate now than ever, Joyce Winegar said pool service should either increase or at least remain at its current level. She said this service should be restored as an essential service and not as a user-pay facility.

She recommended council look into having other area municipalities contribute to the Parks and Recreation budget instead of those residents having to pay a user fee.

"I don't think the new pool [at the Alder Street Recreation Centre] was built to replace the Tony Rose pool," she said.

Noting the Town would loose consumer confidence if the pool were closed, she added: "Municipalities are service providers. As a service provider, please spend your energy selling the benefits of the pool and swimming, rather than wasting it on temporary fiscal deficiencies. I think with that mind set you will not have a difficult time deciding to keep the Tony Rose pool open."

Resident William Bieman pointed out the differences between the two pool locations to council members. He said parking at the Tony Rose arena is closer to the recreation centre's entrance and not nearly as cold or windy a walk as it is in the Alder Street parking lot to its entrance. As well, the water was warmer in the Tony Rose pool.

"We need two pools in Orangeville. One pool is not enough," he said.

Jan Anderson, who runs a therapy clinic in Erin, suggested council turn the pool into a physical therapy pool and advertise it as such to bring in more revenue.

She said swimming is an activity that can help many people who are suffering from physical injuries or obesity.

Ms. Anderson uses the Tony Rose pool and said it has a more intimate setting and a sense of community. It was also safer to do lane swims at Tony Rose than Alder Street because everyone there looked out for each other.

"There's no question Tony Rose has to remain open," she said.

Councillor Gail Campbell, who is also a dedicated user of the pool, said residents who use the pool should not have to come to council on an annual basis begging for it to remain open.

The councillors passed a motion to keep the pool open with its current level of service and have staff market the pool with the ideas council heard that evening to make the programs stronger.

Another motion passed calls for the establishment of a Tony Rose optimization committee, which would look at optimizing users and revenues.