Therapeutic pool set to close

Unless a major underwriter steps to the plate, the Salvation Army Spokane Corps will close its pool at 222 E. Indiana Ave. on April 30.

The pool is a large-size therapeutic pool, making it unique.

“It’s a heated pool, and the room is heated. It feels like Hawaii in there,” said Spokane Corps Capt. Kyle Smith. “That’s one of the reasons why it’s expensive to run.”

Keeping the pool open the rest of the year would cost an estimated $100,000 Smith said.

“To keep it open long-term we’d need a major endowment,” Smith added. “We’d need $2.5 million. I’m not pleading for money, I’m just saying this is our reality.”

The pool opened in 1972 and has many longtime swimmers and exercisers among its supporters and users.

Lori Morrisey has been swimming at the pool about three years.

“I go three times a week to keep my mobility…. I need to lap swim in warm water,” Morrisey said.

She was injured 11 years ago and spent a couple of years in a wheelchair.

“It’s been a long road to recovery for me, and the pool has been essential to that,” Morrisey said. “I hope the Salvation Army doesn’t forget about its service to the elderly and the disabled in these hard times.”

Smith said the decision to close the pool was not easy.

“We help people who are homeless and struggle to get along, and we are seeing more and more demands on those programs, like our shelters,” Smith said. “The pool is not one of our core missions.”

Brad Reynolds, a physical therapist at Parkside Physical Therapy in downtown, said he takes many of his clients to the pool.

“I’ve used it for three years,” Reynolds said. “I have clients with injuries who can’t carry their weight on replaced knees or arthritic joints. The warm water is essential to help them.”

He also has clients who can’t walk on land but walk well in the pool because of the water’s buoyancy.

“That’s a very rewarding experience for them,” Reynolds said.

St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Center has a heated therapeutic pool as well. That’s where Janet Wilder used to take a special arthritis exercise class.

“When they stopped offering the class, we moved over to the Salvation Army,” Wilder said. “It’s a huge pool with a shallow end where you can stand and do things and a deep end where you can swim. And I just love the people there.”

Smith said about 80 people use the pool for therapeutic classes every week, and his only hope is they will find another place to swim. The YMCA and YWCA will open a joint center in Spokane next month; the Central Y on Monroe Street has a warm-water therapy pool in addition to a lap pool and a splash pad for kids.

“During these tough times we are focused on those people who are hurting the most,” Smith said. “We decided closing our pool would be the most effective way to make ends meet and still direct resources toward food for the hungry and shelter for the homeless.”