Adult Cost Off Deep End In Pool Deal As County Mulls Ymca Deal, Price For Adults Overlooked

It will cost an adult 700 percent more to go swimming if the county helps build the YMCA’s proposed new aquatic center instead of replacing its own outdoor pool.

County commissioners planned to replace the crumbling pool at Valley Mission Park. Now, they say they may instead give $1.3 million to the YMCA of the Inland Northwest, which plans to build a center with three pools, a slide and a gymnasium at Mirabeau Point, about a mile from Mission Park.

In addition to the up-front contribution, the county would pay the YMCA $36,000 a year. The Mission Park pool, one of two public pools in the Valley, would be dismantled and not replaced.

Swimmers, regardless of age, pay $1 for a 1-1/2-hour session at the outdoor pool. The YMCA charges $3 a day for children who aren’t members; $7 for non-member adults. Memberships, which include unlimited pool use, cost $6 a month for children and $35 for adults.

YMCA officials listed the children’s rate in a proposal they handed commissioners Thursday. The same document didn’t mention adult rates because commissioners “never asked the question,” explained Rich Wallis, YMCA executive director.

About 10 percent of pool customers are adults, said county parks manager Wyn Birkenthal.

Told about the adult rate on Friday, county Commissioner Kate McCaslin, said it “seems pretty steep” but doesn’t necessarily kill the deal.

“It may be that that’s something we’re going to have to negotiate,” she said. “They might have to have a separate fee for swimming.”

Wallis noted that the YMCA charges for an entire day, including use of the gymnasium. And, he noted, low-income users may qualify for scholarships funded with the county’s annual payment.

Birkenthal said no one is turned away from the county’s public pools if they can’t afford to pay a dollar. In some cases, he said, pool managers have accepted aluminum cans instead of cash.

Birkenthal said most people leave county pools after a session, even though they often could swim for another 90 minutes for another dollar.

But, he acknowledged, a water slide and other amenities might lead people to stay longer at the YMCA.

, DataTimes