Dan Schreiber / dschreiber@chronline.com Lifeguards and Centralia city staff prepare on Friday for the opening of the Pearl Street Pool on TDK.
The Centralia City Council voted Tuesday night to allow community members six months to organize a potential organization to support the Pearl Street Pool rather than closing it and replacing it with a new community park.
The unanimous decision came after the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board held a meeting Monday night that was attended by community members interested in keeping the pool open.
The board first proposed to the city council last October the idea of closing the pool and using the space for a park, filled with a “splash pad,” basketball court and playground.
The council had been prepared to vote on the measure at its last meeting, but delayed the decision to collect more public input.
Former Mayor Bill Moeller was among the citizens to speak in support of keeping the pool open Tuesday.
He said it would be a loss for the community if residents were only able to utilize the existing indoor pool.
“Swimming in an indoor pool in the summer isn’t even swimming,” he said. “It’s just getting wet.”
Centralia resident and business owner Pat Slusher also asked the councilors to keep the pool open.
“Give us an opportunity to see what we can do,” he said.
Councilor Dan Henderson said he was encouraged by the council’s decision and the input garnered from community members interested in saving the pool.
“I think this is a great step by the public,” he said.
Henderson said citizens should organize quickly.
“Time is of the essence,” he said.
It’s unlikely that the pool will be opened this year. Community Development Director Emil Pierson said it would cost about $24,500 to make necessary repairs and maintenance in time to open the pool in July. He said state inspectors would have to give approval in early April.
The city currently pays about $10,000 a year to maintain the closed pool. While it was last open in 2010, the city paid nearly $33,000 annually to run the pool, according to the city.
The total estimated cost for a park and playground project to replace the pool is $273,626, according to the city.
Before the city took back management five years ago, the pool was operated for more than two decades by the local nonprofit organization Friends in Need.
The pool was open during the summers. In 2008, the pool had 2,090 users over 59 days. The city paid $430 per day to serve the average of 35 daily users. Just under half the pool’s budget went to lifeguards, a proposition that became more expensive when Great Wolf Lodge opened in 2008 and demand for lifeguards increased.
