Flags wave on the fence of the Veteran's Memorial Pool Friday afternoon in Centralia.
The long-running debate about what to do with the Pearl Street Pool in downtown Centralia appears to be headed back to the forefront of the city political scene.
David McCaughey, an account executive with national energy services company Ameresco, and Centralia Community Development Director Emil Pierson gave a comprehensive update on the pool at a meeting of the city council on Tuesday.
Local nonprofit S.T.O.P. (Save the Outdoor Pool) and Swim has worked almost since the venue closed in 2010 to find a way for the city, which owns the pool and splash pad at the Pearl Street Memorial Plaza, to reopen the pool and bathhouse built in the 1950s.
McCaughey has worked with S.T.O.P and Swim to complete a structural evaluation of the facilities that showed the pool itself to be in good condition, while the bathhouse would require seismic reinforcements.
The next step would be an audit to be completed by Ameresco at a cost of about $20,000. The results would provide the city a comprehensive list of options for moving forward and allow the council to make a decision regarding the
future of the property. Further discussion of an audit is expected to occur as soon as the next council meeting on Feb. 26.
“One thing we all need to know is what direction the city council wants to go on a project such as this,” Pierson said. “We need some direction of where to look for the future, be it how to finance it, if we want to even keep going with a pool or go in a completely different direction.”
The city of Centralia took on the pool around 2007 from local nonprofit Friends in Need, which ran the operation beginning in the mid-1980s after it was shuttered earlier that decade.
City Councilor Joyce Barnes helped manage the pool each summer for Friends in Need and made it a central part of her platform when she campaigned in 2015 for her seat on the council. Barnes does not plan to seek reelection this fall, but will continue pushing for the city to step up alongside S.T.O.P and Swim in search of a way to finance renovation and operation of the pool.
“I think we all need to work together,” Barnes said. “The main thing is at this point, it’s the city of Centralia that needs to put skin in the game. Let’s get it done.”
Barnes referred to McCaughey and Ameresco as “the pool’s miracle” on Tuesday. He works out of the company’s Renton office.
Ameresco has worked with the nonprofit at its own expense to this point in time, though an official contract would be required for it to perform an audit spelling out different models and costs for a remodel.
Ameresco is pre-certified by the state Department of Energy Services to work with public bodies on what are referred to as energy performance contracts. For them to get involved in a project, they have to be able to find and implement energy savings that double as long-term cost savings.
McCaughey cited improvements to the pool’s heating system as one example of how his company could rectify an energy and cost inefficiency. Should the remodel move forward, it would likely be replaced with an electric or geothermal apparatus.
Partnering with Ameresco would also allow the city to specify local companies to be used as sub-contractors on the renovations. A price for the remodel would be contractually set before a single hammer is swung, with Ameresco assuming the risk of cost overruns if construction does occur.
“There is a way to reasonably stretch it out and have it be well-funded,” McCaughey said. “I would like to see it be considered not as a liability, but to be seen as an asset. There’s the ability of taking some of the bathhouse space to use as a multipurpose room that could be used (by) small groups and serve as a revenue source for the city, similar to the (Centralia Train Depot).”
A ballpark estimate for updates to the pool and bathhouse given by McCaughey eclipsed $3.5 million. Grants and other appropriations would be aggressively pursued to help cover the cost, though the city would almost certainly need to cover a large chunk of the initial cost as well as ongoing operational expenses.
The city council declined to pursue grant funding for the pool from the state Recreation and Conservation Office in 2017, citing the nearly $1 million in matching funds it would need to provide.
Councilors raised concerns Tuesday about the requirement that projects funded by RCO grants continue in perpetuity, regardless of future funding or unforeseen issues down the road. Sue Luond stated her desire to have Centralia voters decide the future of the Pearl Street Pool.
“I’ve heard from people who absolutely want that pool up and running,” Luond said. “I’ve also heard from others who are adamantly against it. I’m wondering, if we were to move forward with this, if we wouldn’t want to go to a vote of the people.”
A tax levy to fund maintenance of city parks and public spaces has been floated by stakeholders as a way to put money toward the pool and other outdoor projects. Barnes brought it up Tuesday, saying it was about time “we get off our duffs and do something.”
She reaffirmed her desire Friday to see it or a similar funding mechanism put to a vote.
“If it were put on the ballot for the next election, it could be the deciding factor,” Barnes said.
