The Chronicle, Sunday, December 30th , 2001

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Côte St. Luc city councillor has a passion for pools

Hard work and commitment paid off in upgrades, popularity of Parkhaven pool

By MARLENE EISNER

THE CHRONICLE

He must have chlorine in his blood.

CÔTE ST. LUC

Cote St. Luc city councillor Mitchell Brownstein may hay have accumulated a list a mile long during his 11 years on council, but the overriding passion that was a constant in it all was his efforts to bring Parkhaven Pool, up to snuff.

‘ It's a lifestyle for me, anything to do with water,' says the 40-year- old Aquarian.

‘In 1990, when I was first elected, I got involved in the pool committee. I felt that Parkhaven was lacking certain things.' said Brownstein, who had the model of Blossom Pool in the back of his mind, a now defunct private Côte St. Luc pool popular for its country club ambiance during the ‘60s, 70's and 80's. It was that same atmosphere of community closeness and activity that Brownstein wished to recreated at the public level at Parkhaven Pool.

"I took my first lessons at Parkhaven Pool, and then my Instructors at the Davis Y," said , Brownstein, who worked first as a lifeguard and then manager of Blossom pool for four years while attending law school. He loved the pool so much , that he passed up a summer stage at a prestigious law firm so that he could continue at Blossom.

To bring his vision to reality, Brownstein worked closely with Côte Saint Luc Recreation Department"s Paul Desbarets and Louise Ferland, as well as the pool management team of Cornelia Ziga and Claudia Pittareli to discover what the needs of the pool were and then go about the necessary steps to rejuvenate the facility and incorporate country club-like activities such as bingo, arts and crafts and dancing The results has been a noticeable increase in usership.

‘ This summer, we had our first family night where more than 300 people attended a BBQ. We had a magician , an evening swim and a movie. People stayed until 11 at night. It was a great success for a little effort', says Brownstein, who uses the outdoor pool often with his wife Elaine and their three children Andrew 11 Matthew, 7, and Marlee, 3.

Most recently, upgrades include the renovation of the swimming pool lockers and the addition to the existing facility of new offices for the recreation department. As well , construction of a new state-of-the art gymnasium is set to begin, the completion of which will turn the pool area into a 12 month facility.

Unfortunately for Brownstein, his role as a city councillor ends Jan. 1, but he says that he plans to stay active at Parkhaven Pool.

‘I hope to be able to continue this now as a volunteer,' he says.

"I'll be able to devote more time to the pool and get more people there, too."

According to Cote Saint Luc sport co-ordinator Louise Ferland, Brownstein efforts during his tenure as city councillor were vital to seeing the prosed changes to the pool becomes a reality.

"He really represented the pool needs to council.

"He was instrumental in pushing for positive changes. And, he was one of the members of the council who actually used the pool and in that way, understood what the needs were," said Ferland.

"A pool is the basis of community life in the summer. It's a 50 metre pool and I think it's a beautiful pool and since the closing of Blossom Pool, it's been the hub of community life for the past two or three years,"

Will the mega-merger ruin the neighbourhood atmosphere at Parkhaven ? Brownstein, who is unhappy with the merger, is hopeful there will be some positive fallout.

"Now there are three pools in the borough and I think if we're going to take advantage of what we can , the good in this is that each one of the pools can be adopted by the other and learn from each other.