City pool to close if not rescued

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

— The city swimming pool will be closing unless someone can come up with a way for the city to afford it, Mayor Bill Montgomery said at the Dec. 14 city council meeting.

City council members continued to discuss the problem of the city swimming pool losses at the meeting and are hoping for a reaction from the community to help them solve the problem.

The council considered closing the pool last year after financial reports showed it lost more than $8,000 in the summer of 2008 but decided to keep it open one more year on a trial basis. But in the summer of 2009 the pool lost even more money, with a total losses for the year being $9,463.

Beyond the expenses of lifeguard salaries and chemicals, the pool’s biggest problem is a lack of attendance. In 2009 lifeguards closed the pool if there were less than two swimmers after 2 p.m., which happened quite often, according to city officials.

On the other hand, there are large numbers of swimmers at Crystal Lake on most summer days, Montgomery stated. He speculated that parents take their children swimming at the lake because it is free, rather than paying a fee to swim in the city pool.

The pool is also in need of repairs. Concrete under the diving board is crumbling and needs to be replaced and the concrete around the fence posts is also eroding away, causing the fence to be less than secure. It will have to be replaced for safety reasons whether or not the pool is reopened.

The exact date the pool was built is a little uncertain, but city officials agree it was opened in the early 1970s.

Montgomery said he has his own sentimental reasons for wanting the pool to stay open, saying he met his wife Michal in his junior or senior year of high school while she was serving as a lifeguard at the pool.

Councilwoman Linda Martin said two community members have approached her with ideas to keep the pool open, offering suggestions like making the hours of operation more family friendly by changing them to 2 to 8 p.m., and having the pool open on weekends.

Alderman Tripp Lapham was skeptical the changes would increase occupancy, pointing out that the city held a free pool party on a Saturday at the beginning of summer which was not well attended.

The city is not looking to make money on the pool; it just doesn’t want to lose a large amount of money each year, he said.

News, Pages 1 on 01/06/2010