Officials proposing $1 fee for swimming
The Spokane Park Board is expected to hear a proposal Thursday to charge $1 a day for youth swimming starting this summer.
If approved, the fee would end a longstanding practice of offering free summer swimming for kids in the city of Spokane.
Parks officials said they want to hear from the public before they take a vote on the proposal. A vote could come as early as the regular Park Board meeting Feb. 10.
Park Board members “want feedback,” said Sarah Ranson, aquatics supervisor for the Spokane Parks and Recreation Department.
The Park Board meets Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall, and is expected to receive details on the fee plan. The meeting will be televised live on Cable Channel 5.
Public testimony is being sought for the Feb. 10 regular meeting, which will also be held at 1:30 p.m. in Council Chambers, and televised as well.
Parks Director Mike Stone said the plan is to give residents “some time to tell us what they think of it.”
Parks officials said they hope to raise $70,000 in new revenue to reduce budget cuts in the parks department in 2005. Last year, the department subsidized swimming with $632,000 from its general fund allocation. Fees collected last year from adult swimmers as well as for lessons and pool rentals brought in $118,000.
Revenue calculations are based on a 50 percent reduction in attendance at open swim sessions. Last year, pool attendance by kids totaled 76,000 admissions. This year’s 61-day summer season is scheduled to start June 21 and run through Aug. 30.
During budget deliberations last fall, the board moved to close the city’s wading pools in 2005 because of the cost of maintenance and a new requirement that lifeguards be posted at wading pools. The board also agreed to close the outdoor pool at Shadle Park.
Free swimming isn’t being completely abandoned. Each of the city’s six remaining pools would offer one free afternoon swimming session for children each week under the plan.
The proposed schedule would have free swimming at Witter Pool on Mondays, Liberty and Cannon pools on Tuesdays, Comstock Pool on Wednesdays, Hillyard Pool on Thursdays and the Shadle Park indoor pool on Fridays. All of the free sessions would run from 1 to 4:30 p.m.
In addition to the $1 charge for children, the city would increase the charge for adults to $2 per session. However, adults accompanying children would get a price break with a $1 admission charge.
Ranson told members of the Park Board’s Recreation Committee that Spokane is the only city of its size in the United States to offer free swimming for kids.
Season passes would be priced at $39 for children and $79 for a family. Adult lap swimmers could buy passes at increased prices of $64 for a summer season and $99 for an extended season, which includes use of the Shadle indoor pool in September.
Park Board members have said they are considering installation of more water spray play features at city parks.
The board is also looking at the possibility of seeking voter approval of a $35 million upgrade of city swimming facilities, including construction of an aquatics center and three leisure pools to replace the city’s current facilities.