Valley residents discuss aquatics at meeting
Jan Thompson’s dream swimming pool isn’t one of the kidney-shaped meccas outside tropical hotels. It’s more like an aquatic facility she came across far north of the equator – in Victoria, B.C.
The Canadian facility has a competitive lap pool, a waterslide, and a pool that’s ringed with basketball hoops.
At a meeting Thursday to discuss the future of public pools in Spokane Valley, Thompson envisioned the city building a similar aquatic facility near a senior center, a library and other community buildings. “Spokane Valley is so new, it has so much space …” she said.
“But it doesn’t have much money,” an audience member interrupted.
City staffers and consultants were gathering input for a master plan that will guide parks and recreation decisions. The meeting focused on aquatics, and about 30 people attended.
The city has access to some money, $1.6 million, for a pool project. Spokane County set that aside when it planned to build a pool in 2002. The project was delayed when the proposal came in over budget and the Valley incorporated. Last year, the county said the city could have that money for a pool.
Three years later, $1.6 million still doesn’t build much of a pool, though. Bob Bignold, an aquatics specialist, told the group that a basic outdoor pool costs $2 million, and an indoor pool costs up to $4 million.
He showed photos of the latest pool trends, which look nothing like the rectangular water tanks where most adults learned to swim. Instead, the “pools” were either shaped like winding rivers or looked like beaches, complete with manmade waves. There were shallow play areas with spray toys.
Bignold said these new facilities can accommodate more people and therefore generate more revenue. One option he suggested was using the $1.6 million to build some of these features at existing pools, although it’s unknown if the county would relinquish the money for such a plan.
Besides, there was little interest in the new trends among most attendees, many of whom were parents of competitive swimmers or former lifeguards.
Jan Howard, a physical therapist, wanted a pool where patients could do aquatic therapy. Tori Reiber wanted a place where she could lead water aerobics for senior citizens. Several people said they preferred an indoor facility.
A survey of 400 households also will be incorporated into the master plan draft. Bignold said he’d expect to see more support for the new pool trends in the survey since that will represent a greater cross-section of the population.
Once the plan is drafted, the city will hold hearings, and the proposal is expected to be finalized later this year.
Eventually the City Council and possibly voters would have the final say on building a new pool and how it should look.
Wilhite said she’s open to exploring the possibilities.
“If the community wants an indoor swimming pool, I personally would be happy to work with you to see if that can happen,” she said.