Petaluma swimmers unite to keep city’s lone public lap pool open

In the wake of the closure of Petaluma High School’s pool earlier this year, the city’s swim community is working to keep the Petaluma Swim Center open through the winter.|

In the wake of the closure of Petaluma High School’s pool earlier this year, the city’s avid swim community is working with local officials and business owners to find a viable way to keep the Petaluma Swim Center – the city’s only other public Olympic-sized facility suitable for competitive swimming - open through the winter.

The city-owned pool that’s operated by Novato-based Forevers Aquatics usually closes in early fall, but after an outcry from local athletes and the Westside Aquaducks swim team, the private company launched an effort in August to sell $260 pool passes to offset costs to keep the pool open for an extended season, according to Tom Evers, who owns the business.

Evers’ company has managed the East Washington complex and the Cavanagh Swim Center pool since 2009, when the cash-strapped city contracted out the daily operations as a cost saving measure. During the summer season, the city foots the bill for utilities and maintenance, but there’s no room in the budget to cover those costs in spring or winter, Assistant City Manager Scott Brodhun said.

After the high school’s pool, which has been a community staple for more than 60 years, closed in March due to issues with leaking and dilapidated infrastructure, the school district and the team cobbled together a patchwork of funding to help cover the price tag for the city pool to open two months early to accommodate lap and masters swimmers as well as teams, including those from three local high schools, Evers said.

Now, to keep the 50-meter pool open through the winter, Evers is aiming to sell 100 public passes by Oct. 15 to cover the estimated $11,500 monthly bill for staffing, maintenance and utilities. He said his company sells passes to keep the smaller Cavanagh Pool open on a year-round basis for water aerobics, aqua therapy, open exercise and toddler time since 2010 – a model that’s proved successful.

The Westside Aquaducks, a team of about 90 swimmers ages 6 to 24, has also agreed to pitch in to help keep the swim center open, raising money through a swimathon event, promoting pass sales and leaning on donations to help bridge potential funding gaps, according to President Laylah Stolp.

“Failure is not an option - we have to keep that pool open,” she said. “The aquatics community needs that pool to remain open.”

Evers said about 70 passes have been sold so far, and he’s working to find a way for his company to cover the cost of utilities if sales fall short so the swim team only has to kick in a small percentage.

“It’s opened ended, but most people at this point kind of understand that we’ll be open unless we run up against something unforeseen and the cost is too great at the end of the month or we’re too far away. I don’t foresee that happening, but it’s always possible,” Evers said.

Winter drop in rates will be available, and the pool will tentatively remain open seven days a week with a holiday closure from late December to early January, Evers said. It’s not clear how many swimmers will use the facilities in the colder months, but in the summer, as many as 400 people attended the swim center daily, he said.

While the footwork is underway to keep the Swim Center open, Petaluma City Schools Board of Education President Mike Baddeley said the board is mulling over its options for the future of the campus pool, with early estimates for renovations coming in $2.7 million – about $1.2 million more than the district initially estimated it would need to allocate from bond funds, he said.

Petaluma City Schools Superintendent Gary Callahan said the district is currently undergoing design work for both the pool and a track renovation at Petaluma High School, and is in conversations with the city about a potential cost sharing method for the facilities.

He said he anticipates that final designs for the projects will be back to the board by the end of the year, and if the panel gives a green light, the pool project could be completed by spring 2018.

“I’m guardedly optimistic that we can get this done, but it would be nice to get the build-out figure down to some palatable number,” Baddeley said, adding that if costs are too high, the pool may remain closed.

Since the school’s pool will likely remain dry for at least one more winter, Evers said he hopes pass sales can be a sustainable solution to keep the Petaluma Swim Center open year-round on a regular basis.

“The goal is to make it something that can help us stay open (year-round) for the foreseeable future,” he said.

For now, city officials are optimistic about keeping the Petaluma Swim Center afloat for at least the coming season.

“The anticipation is that this will work well,” Brodhun said.

Athletes, including Petaluma masters swimmer Greg Mitchell, lamented the fact the Swim Center hasn’t turned to a year-round model sooner and praised efforts to extend the season.

“Now it’s the only game in town,” he said. “It’s been so sad that in all the 20 years I’ve been in Petaluma this magnificent aquatic facility sits empty for months.”

(Contact Hannah Beausang at hannah.beausang@arguscourier.com. On Twitter @hannah.beausang.)

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