Pool planners kick into high gear

What a difference a year makes.

Last summer, Spokane’s swimming pools were crumbling, and plans to replace them were uncertain. Worse, the city’s indoor and outdoor pools at Shadle Park and all 12 of its wading pools had been closed for good.

But the city’s aquatics program is about to make the equivalent of a freestyle flip. Construction will soon start on six new splash pads, and the parks department plans to open six new swimming pools before next summer.

Since voters passed a $43 million park bond in November, the Park Board has pushed an aggressive construction schedule. And through dozens of community meetings, parks leaders crafted compromises with neighborhood groups on design and location debates that threatened to postpone construction of some pools indefinitely.

“We’re getting a lot of compliments and ‘attaboys’ for being aggressive on this,” said Park Board member Steve McNutt. “There is maybe a momentum shift.”

The quick start marks a turnaround for the park department, which found itself embroiled in years of delays in construction of a park near Joe Albi Stadium that was promised in a 1999 vote.

“I’m glad it’s coming sooner rather than later,” said former Spokane City Councilman Rob Crow, a park bond advisory committee member. “Who’d of thunk a couple years ago?”

Park Board members say they pushed the aggressive schedule after 68 percent of voters agreed to pay higher taxes for the pools and park upgrades. They soon asked Mayor Mary Verner to fire park director Mike Stone. She agreed and hired an interim director, Roger Crum, a former Spokane city manager.

City Council members and park board members have praised Crum, who was replaced by Barry Russell in May, for managing the design process through the department shakeup.

“He made sure we met the schedule,” McNutt said.

Park employees attended dozens of meetings with neighborhoods on splash pad and pool designs. They worked through an intense debate about where to put a pool in northwest Spokane to replace Shadle Pool. The Park Board settled on Shadle Park.

The department decided to keep Hillyard Pool in its current location after some suggestions arose to move it.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle was Comstock Pool. Advocates of Comstock, the city’s oldest public pool, wanted to maintain a traditional tank for lap swimming, while city aquatics workers have pushed for new features such as slides and a sloped entry. A compromise allows both.

“We were on the cusp of some delays, but we dodged the bullet,” McNutt said.

The new pools will be a mix of what the city has now – rectangular tanks – and modern pools with play features.

Maintenance costs of the pools could fall, said Carl Strong, Spokane’s aquatics supervisor. Current pools leak water and the chemicals that keep them clean. New systems also will be much more energy efficient.

Strong said the city may see an increased cost for staffing if the new designs require extra lifeguards, especially if the pools attract bigger crowds.

Even so, he hopes the pools will help the city bring in new revenue. The pools are designed for multiple activities. For instance, while a group swimming lesson is held in one side of a pool, a water-aerobics class could work out, too. He also hopes to schedule private swim parties and improve concession sales.

Parks Director Barry Russell said the department is not considering an end to the city’s long-standing policy that allows kids to swim free of charge – at least not in the first year of operations.

Russell said the department likely will save money by constructing all the pools at once under one contract. He said he expects several national companies to bid.

Cannon Pool in the West Central neighborhood will close in early August to give workers a head start on demolition and construction, Russell said. Swim seasons at the other pools won’t be affected much, if at all, he said.

Just because design of the pools is on track, park leaders warn quick construction isn’t guaranteed, especially if Spokane has a long winter.

And there could be other setbacks.

Given the amount Comstock Pool leaks, Strong said: “We may find a huge sinkhole.”