Yukon's Takhini Hot Pools gets demolished after 49 years

Yukoners took their last soak in the Takhini Hot Pools on Friday.

After 49 years of operation, the aging premises, including the pool, will be demolished. 

"The facility was literally crumbling, we have had lines freezing up, we have had floors starting to sag and cave in," said Gary Umbrich, president of Takhini Hot Springs Ltd.

He says his team kept the old facility running as long as they could, but the building and concrete pool were too far gone to operate for another season.

But all is not lost: Umbrich and his family purchased the land to build a new facility nearby. There are three new pools coming with a brand new, $6-million dollar facility.

Umbrich says there was a lot of nostalgia for the old pool, but he is optimistic the new spa will win Yukoners over.

The hot springs have been used for centuries. One of the first pools was built in the 1940s by the US military when it was building the Alaska highway. 

Back then the pool was made from wood and canvas.

The facility was literally crumbling, we have had lines freezing up, we have had floors starting to sag and cave in.- Gary Umbrich, president of Takhini Hot Springs Ltd.

Located about a half hour drive out of Whitehorse, the Takhini Hot Pools is one of the most visited destinations in Yukon.

There is no sulfur smell, and the main minerals in the natural springs are calcium, magnesium and iron. 

Laura Melvin regularly goes to the pool with her children. She says she is going to miss the hot pool this winter, but looks forward to the new facility opening up. 

"This sort of history of the 40-plus years of it being the way it has been, [it's] definitely something that will have changed with the new facilities going in," said Melvin.

New facility aims for spa-like experience

Umbrich says the new, modern facility under construction will have more natural looking pools for a spa-like experience. It will have steam rooms, saunas and heated ceramic lounge chairs.

The facility will also have stonework waterfalls and landscaping surrounding the pools and buildings. 

Umbrich says some of the pools will be hotter, because of the short distance to the source of the underground springs. 

He says when completed, the project will be a world class facility. The name of the new facility hasn't been released.

While the old Takhini Hot Pools will soon be just a memory, Umbrich says the new hot springs will be ready to warm Yukoners winter blues in the new year.

He says construction should be finished in early 2021.