UPDATE: Mayor Bill Given has offered his condolences for the family of the boy. He says that the City of Grande Prairie will assist in the RCMP investigation.
The city says the pool was regularly drained of any pooling water. They add that there is recorded video surveillance of the area and there are daily checks of the facilities done by contracted security.
Before this incident, they say there has been no reported security breaches of the facility.
RCMP have confirmed that a young boy is dead after somehow getting into the Bear Creek outdoor pool yesterday. Officers received reports that the four year old went missing at around 7:00 pm Monday night which had the RCMP, Grande Prairie Fire Department as well as Search and Rescue searching the park. The boy was found at the bottom of the empty facility in Muskoseepi Park hours later at 9:30 pm.
RCMP say the child’s family has been notified, but they have not released his name. A release with more information is expected this morning.
Cracking in the basin of the pool was spotted in 2013 and there has been no summer operation of the facility since then.
The City of Grande Prairie Council is already set to discuss the Bear Creek outdoor pool this Thursday at their Committee of the Whole meeting. Their agenda includes concept drawings for the Bear Creek Pool Renovation project.