By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
On Monday and Tuesday, summer returned with a sweaty vengeance.
And at the Burlington Community Pool, youngsters and adults packed into the facility, seeking relief in the 50-plus-year-old pool. No one seemed to notice the need for new pumps or heaters – the cool water was enough.
About 20-25 miles away is the community of Elkhorn, which also has an aging community pool – and has pushed forward referendums to make much-needed repairs on those pools.
Elkhorn voters have approved a new pool complex at Sunset Park and $3.5 million with which to build it. The project is currently in the design phase, and the old pool – in serious need of upgrades and repairs – did not open this summer.
But whether that kind of plan can work in Burlington has Mayor Bob Miller concerned.
“There’s a lot of things to be gauged,” said Miller. “What are we going to do, how are we going to do it?
“Is it a big enough asset for (the community) that they want to keep it?”
Burlington’s pool
The Burlington Community pool was built and opened in the 1960s, and much of the original buildings and equipment is still in place.
However, with the help of $25,000 from the City of Burlington this spring, along with a close-to $10,000 donation from the Burlington Community Fund, much-needed cosmetic repairs were done before the pool opened this summer.
A new floor, renovated bathrooms and changing rooms, plus new lights and a freshly-painted ceiling all were put into place with the city’s $25,000.
A $9,380 donation from the Community Fund went for new lockers for staff members, as well as lockers and benches for patrons to use in the changing rooms.
The pool receives a $3,000 donation each year from the service groups in Burlington – Kiwanis, Rotary, the Lions Club and the Jaycees. The rest of the costs are covered through memberships and daily admission.
With income largely driven by the weather, a cool summer can devastate finances for the facility.
“There’s the ebb and flow of what’s going on around you,” Pool Board member Scott Hoffman said. “Running an outdoor pool is not an exact science. It’s based on the weather.”
Looking at options
With the donations in hand and the cosmetic work done this spring, a committee of Pool Board members and city officials was formed to start looking at the future of the pool.
Miller said last week that he is waiting for an update from the service groups on a study that was done five years ago – one that outlined figures for upgrades, expansions and renovations.
The numbers, he said, need to be made current.
“Until I get a price back from that company … I’m kind of in a holding pattern,” Miller said. “For example, a slide five years ago cost $20. Now it’s $500.”
Right now, he’s waiting to find out the cost of upgrading that that, and didn’t want to consider the multitude of “what if” scenarios.
He also cautioned that while there appeared to be support in the community of Elkhorn, he wasn’t at all sure how Burlington residents would feel about the idea of a referendum to spend any amount on the pool – and, quite possibly, raise taxes.
“If we need to go to bond, I think there will be some gauge of community support,” Miller explained.
The money this spring, he added, didn’t address the heaters, filters or pumps – all equipment that is, essentially, original.
And yet, that didn’t seem to matter Monday. Children splashed merrily around in the splash pond, crawled under the mushroom fountain for a cool shower – or took numerous dives and cannonballs into the diving well.
The staff prepped for the mid-day clearing of the pool by unpacking ice cream for sale, ready for a deluge of swimmers to buy concessions – or sat in the guard chairs, keeping an eye on their charges.
Parents and guardians sat catching some sun, reading books or swimming themselves.
The question comes back to what Hoffman proposed more than a month ago.
“I have no way of knowing … whether the public would support a new pool facility,” Hoffman said.
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