Now board must decide long-term future or facility
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
Visitors to the Burlington Community Pool got a few nice surprises as the pool reopened this year.
A new floor, new bathroom and changing room stalls, plus new lights and a freshly-painted ceiling all were put into place with $25,000 worth of City of Burlington money this past month.
The pool is now open, just in time for temperatures to hit the 70s and 80s over the next week.
“It looks nice with what they did,” said Mayor Bob Miller, who had engaged in a long conversation with the Common Council last month about giving the pool $25,000 to give the building a bit of a facelift.
The money did come, and Pool Board member Scott Hoffman was pleased with the results.
“I think we just did what matters most to me,” Hoffman said. “It’s all about curb appeal.
“My mission statement is to provide a clean, safe water and recreation environment for families in Burlington.”
When the council was asked to approve the $25,000 in May, Miller had prefaced the conversation bluntly by saying “the future of the pool beyond this year is, as far as I’m concerned, very much in doubt.”
But while the pool could have opened without the work that was done, it was clear looking at the improvements Monday how much brighter the environment turned out inside the pool building.
The new flooring has a confetti-type look to it, and is textured, with an epoxy finish. In addition to putting in new changing stalls and bathroom stalls, the fresh coat of paint makes the inside of the building appear cleaner and brighter.
The cosmetic changes are, according to Hoffman, what has been sorely needed.
“It had no curb appeal,” Hoffman said of the building before the repairs that were done. Now, “Once you get a pool cleaned up and get lifeguards in the chairs, it looks pretty good from the outside.”
Normally, the work would have been addressed with money given by the city’s four service organizations – Rotary, Jaycees, Lions and Kiwanis. But the amount of work outdistanced the funds in the past few years.
“We asked the mayor to come down and look at it,” Hoffman said. “Everything kind of evolved from there.”
However, while Pool Board members hope the fresh look will help draw in the summer crowds, Miller said the work didn’t address the larger problems with the facility.
“It’s what, 50 years old, and in need of some major, major repairs,” Miller said. “What they’ve done so far is clean it up and do some needed painting and that kind of stuff.
“It didn’t come near addressing the addition problems the pool has.”
Miller remained doubtful on just what the future of the pool was – or rather, should be.
“I’m still mulling things over and trying to wrap around my hands – my arms – about what the future of the pool should be,” he said.
The Common Council had a similar reaction on May 6. Alderman Tom Vos said the city needed to look further ahead, and Alderman Jon Schultz questioned whether the council, by approving the $25,000, was “pissing money away.”
Answers could be coming, however. Hoffman, fellow Pool Board member Ed Nadolski, Miller, City Administrator Kevin Lahner and Pool Board and Park Board President Darrell Eisenhardt are scheduled to meet starting this week to look at the future of the facility.
They could conceivably consider options ranging from closing the pool to spending millions on a new outdoor pool/water park.
With the pool effectively limited to about three months of operation each year, profits are largely driven by the weather each summer.
“There’s the ebb and flow of what’s going on around you,” Hoffman said. “Running an outdoor pool is not an exact science. It’s based on the weather.”
Hoffman said one of the biggest challenges is finding out what the community will support.
“I have no way of knowing … whether the public would support a new pool facility,” Hoffman said. “So that’s probably one of the things we will be discussing.”
Hoffman added that the Pool Board is committed to keeping it open.
“I’m hoping that what we’ve done will impress the people who are coming there,” he said. “Hopefully start motivating people to start coming down to the pool, coming back to the pool.”
-
-
-
-
-