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If we could all go to the saunas of Helsinki for just one day, we would proceed tomorrow. We can’t do that, so I’ll rely on the testimony of Emma Sanborn, one of the lead proponents of the sauna idea for The Edmonton Project.

Sanborn grew up in Edmonton before studying for a masters in climate-sensitive urban planning in Lulea, Sweden.

Photo by Shaughn Butts / Postmedia

Four winters ago, Sanborn’s boyfriend, a German national, took her to a winter spa on Lake Constance in Germany with numerous saunas and hot, cold and infinity pools.

Bathers would spend 20 minutes in the sauna, then go dip in the cold lake. Sanborn found the indoor-outdoor connection refreshing, so unlike crummy Edmonton saunas. As Sanborn puts it: “Here we do have saunas, but they’re often in the basement of rec centres.”

The hot/cold experience of moving from sweltering sauna to chilly water brings an exhilarating burning sensation.

“You leave feeling super rejuvenated and really warm. I’m one of those people that don’t get properly warm until I go to bed. Or I have to have a hot bath. But it’s way more enjoyable to be in the sauna with other people, enjoying the views of the outdoors. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh! We need this in Edmonton!'”

In Sweden, Sanborn went to several outstanding saunas, one of them a moveable sauna on a trolley in the middle of a frozen river. They cut a hole in the river ice to dip in to get the thrilling hot/cold rush.

Sanborn sees the perfect location for an Edmonton sauna near the bottom of the new downtown funicular and footbridge beside the Louise McKinney Park boat launch. The sauna would be built near the bank, with an outdoor pool near or into the river.