I found your editorial opposing the recommendation by the pool committee to
be counterproductive. While I don't agree 100% with the recommendation by
the committee, your stance seems written to scare away potential bond levy
supporters. The committee succeeded in its goal of making a recommendation
to fill the swimming pool void in Moscow.
I agree with the committee that the pool to best serve the demand in Moscow
is an outdoor facility. While it would obviously be used for fewer months
than a covered pool, it would be used OFTEN during those months. When
Moscow residents experienced a summer without an outside pool this past
year, the response of most Moscow's swimmers was not to use the indoor
University pool. It was to use the outdoor facility in Pullman (or head to
a lake for the weekend). We have an excellent indoor pool in Moscow, we
don't have an outdoor pool. That is the void needing to be filled.
I also agree with the committee that the pool needs to built in such a way
as to attract lots of people during the season. Thus the toys: slides,
boards, etc. The "if you build it they will come" strategy works with
pools, and this area is hungry for that kind of entertainment. The toys
are relatively cheap, and they bring swimmers that pay money to the pool.
The city needs to think of the pool as a business and it would be wise to
invest in that which will attract the public.
The one point that I disagree with the committee is the size of the pool.
I would like to see the pool larger than suggested to serve two purposes:
more recreational room, and better lap swmming possibilities. I have swum
in many 50 meter pools that have more capacity for lap lanes, but they
mostly serve the purpose of providing more recreational swimming space. We
are replacing a pool built 65 years ago (to serve a much smaller Moscow),
let's not underbuild the pool volume.
I swim every day that I get a chance. I never get enough of the water. I
would like nothing more than to have a full-size indoor-outdoor
retractable-roof swimming facility that could be used year around. The
kind of pool that would not only be open year around, but would attract
people and be used. Unless we find another funding source to augment a
bond levy, I don't think Moscow can build a pool that would be useful in
the winter months AND be used in the summer months. If Moscow is only
going to spend $4 million on a new pool, it would be better to buy a nice
outdoor facility than try to build a less than adequate indoor pool. If we
want an indoor pool, then we should spend the money needed to make it a
desirable summertime destination.
Tom Lamar
Moscow