PORT ANGELES — Save the Pool PA hopes to raise $90,000 to keep the William Shore Memorial Pool open through the second quarter of next year.
The group will begin its pledge drive, sponsored by KONP radio, on Nov. 18, which is the day the group will present its plan for saving the pool to the City Council.
The City Council, looking at its preliminary 2009 budget, said in September that the pool will close on Dec. 31 unless a firm plan is in place to fund pool operations.
If a plan is in place, closure will be delayed until after March 31.
Holly Juskivich, Save the Pool PA steering committee vice chairwoman, said this weekend that details of the plan are changing constantly and were not ready to be released.
Possible boost
Even before the pledge drive begins, the pool may get a boost in funding.
At its Nov. 19 meeting, the Olympic Medical Center Board of Commissioners will consider approval of paying the city $3,000 a month for using the pool for physical therapy.
Rhonda Curry, OMC spokeswoman, said that the board is considering the agreement as a way to expand its physical therapy program as well as contribute to keeping the pool open.
“It’s a way to help support the pool and help support our physical therapy and rehab patients,” she said.
The pledge drive will last until Dec. 1, which is the day before the City Council is expected to make a decision on whether to keep the pool open until March 31, Juskivich said.
Money from the pledges won’t be collected until next year, Juskivich said.
She said that $90,000 is the amount that is projected to be needed to keep the pool open from April through June.
The figure takes into account pool fee increases that began on Nov. 1, which are supposed to raise another $60,000 a year, or $15,000 a quarter.
Juskivich said she believes the pledge drive will be a success because of the outpouring of support since the City Council announced its intention to close the pool, the only public swimming pool in town.
“Everywhere we go in the community, they show support,” she said.
Ideas that have been considered include forming a partnership with such local organizations as Peninsula College and the Coast Guard — which uses the pool for training — and forming a metropolitan parks district.
A parks district would levy property taxes to fund the pool’s operations.
Currently, the pool’s $380,000 gap between revenue and expenses is covered by the city’s general fund.
If a parks district is formed within the boundaries of the Port Angeles School District, it would be a property tax levy of 12 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation.
That levy would mean $24 per year in property taxes on a $200,000 home.
OMC agreement
Curry said the details of an agreement between OMC and the city for use of the pool have yet to be worked out.
But the idea, she said, is for the program to be available for those who have gone through physical therapy at the hospital but would like to continue “progressing toward better health.”
“It is often times an option that those patients really enjoy, to be able to continue to have those workouts,” she said.
“It’s an option that many people like to do.”
Curry said it hasn’t been determined what possible costs there would be or how hospital staff would be involved.
Ken Berkes, OMC physical therapy and rehabilitation services director, said that discussions with the pool management indicated that the agreement could work out if the pool continues to operate.
Berkes said the hospital already recommends that patients who complete its physical therapy program use the pool to continue their rehabilitation.
Many of them, he said, come back and speak positively about using the pool.
One of them is Roberta Dickinson.
Dickinson, 70, began using the pool over two years ago shortly after a knee replacement surgery, and is concerned about the possibility of the pool closing.
She was excited about OMC’s proposal.
“That would be a godsend,” she said.
Having completed physical therapy at OMC, Dickinson now visits the public pool for a half an hour three times a week.
She walks through the shallow areas, allowing her to use her knee without putting weight on it.
Dickinson said it is the best exercise that she can do.
“I would have to do something, but water therapy is really easy on your joints,” she said.
If the pool closes, she said she would have to travel to the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center to continue her exercises.
Her husband, Bob Dickinson, 69, also uses the pool to keep his diabetes in check.
“If it wasn’t for the pool, I’d probably be on insulin right now,” he said.
His wife said she wants to keep the possibility of the pool closing out of her mind.
“It’s kind of disheartening,” she said.
“I’m just trying not to think about it right now.”
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or tom.callis@ peninsuladailynews.com.
