The announcement by the city last week that Stanley Park pool would be one of the outdoor pools facing closure could end up costing the city a lot of money.

Last week Mayor Rob Ford introduced a proposed budget that suggested closing seven swimming and wading pools and reducing ice-time hours at local arenas, as a means of reducing costs. Ford said the pools needed extensive repairs.

Later in the week the city released a list of five wading pools and two outdoor pools slated to close.

Stanley Park, which is located near Bathurst Street and King Street West, was on the list.

But the Stanley Park pool underwent an expensive facelift just last year. City documents show $592,000 was spent on repairs and renovations.

The money for the repairs came from all three levels of government — part of Canada's Economic Action Plan — with Ottawa and Queen's Park each contributing $118,800.

And that's the problem.

According to the province the city may have to refund $237,600 of the repair costs if it shuts the pool.

"The City of Toronto signed a legal agreement that says the city must continue to maintain and operate the Stanley Park pool for at least six years after the project is completed," a spokesperson for Infrastructure Ontario said in an email statement.

"If the city chooses not to maintain and operate the pool over this time period, the City could be required to repay the provincial and federal contributions to the project."

City staff apparently chose to shut down pools that see relatively few swimmers but city records show the Stanley Park pool saw nearly 10,000 swimmers last year.

Neighbours say the pool is packed in the summer.

"We go a lot with my friends. Pretty much every day we went," said Ava Evreinov.

But the letter from the province says if it decides to close the pool it expects the city to honour its commitments.

"The status of this pool is a decision for Toronto's municipal council to make but we do expect the City to honour the legal agreement it signed," the statement says.

As the debate on the city's 2012 budget kicked off on Monday, city budget chief Mike Del Grande also suggested that other outdoor pools may start charging a $2 admission.

The mayor's 2012 budget also calls for a 2.5 per cent property tax increase as well as a TTC fare hike and the elimination of more than 2,300 jobs.