Almaden Resident

News

Residents don't want Raging Waters they just want their pools reopened

By Eli Segall

Raging Waters may be headed to a neighborhood nearby.

On Nov. 13, the San Jose Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services and aquatics consulting firm Counsilman-Hunsaker gathered for a community forum at San Jose City Hall to discuss new ideas for San Jose's struggling public pools system. The city's six pools were built between the 1930s and 1970s, and are of standard, rectangular form. Last year the San Jose City Council voted to close four of them, due to safety and health code violations and inadequate revenue streams.

Consultant Scott Hunsaker, whose firm received a $250,000 city contract to assess San Jose residents' aquatic needs, gave a presentation on new options to overhaul or enhance the three defunct swimming centers. The fourth, Mayfair, located just north of downtown,was approved for renovations in August.

Possibilities included indoor pools, towering water slides, lazy rivers, wading areas and water playgrounds, with prices that ranged between $4 million and $25 million.

Parks officials also said they are looking to build new public pools in neighborhoods that do not currently have one, including South San Jose.

"It's not just a matter of fixing what's broken, but to bring our pools up to today's standards of quality and safety," Hunsaker said.

Cynthia Bojorquez, deputy director of the parks department, said a primary cause of the pools' deterioration has been a lack of maintenance, and the citywide master plan is the first step in ensuring this does not happen again.

"Pools have not been a priority for the city," she said. "These are the first meaningful discussions we've had with people about this." She also wanted the residents to understand, "We're not talking about a new Raging Waters. We want to build a local, neighborhood facility," she said.

Richard Wells, who lives on North First Street and was a frequent user of the closed Ryland Park pool, was dismayed by Hunsaker's elaborate suggestions.

"How are you going to do all this with no money?" Wells asked. "This will cost a fortune. We can't even maintain the ones we have now."

The citywide aquatics master plan kicked off in August with a series of focus groups, telephone surveys and community meetings. Counsilman-Hunsaker planned to present its findings to the city council on Dec. 12, but Hunsaker announced at the forum this date has been pushed to June 5.

Bojorquez said the city will hold eight to 10 more community meetings before June, including one with Gardner residents. Specific dates have not been set.

Harvey Darnell, chairman of the Greater Gardner Coalition, was not alarmed by the six-month delay. In fact, Darnell lobbied parks officials and the consultants to slow down the process, because he did not think adequate time had been spent to gather community input for the December presentation.

Overall, the forum drew a mixed response from Gardner residents at the meeting, including Darnell.

"I'm still not happy," he said. "Now I've got to find $4 million to have an enhanced aquatics experience."

To repair, renovate and build additional features to Gardner's six-lane, 25-yard pool will cost $4.2 million, Hunsaker said. To simply patch up existing problems would cost $1.6 million.

Gardner resident Robert Jones preferred an enhanced Biebrach pool to accommodate what he predicted will be a spike in new swimmers. He cited a nearby housing development on Bird Avenue and greater accessibility to the Virginia light rail station as creating the potential for increased usage.

Jones said he understood the need for the master plan's extension, but the process of turning Gardner's pool, on the corner of Virginia Street and Delmas Avenue, into a local destination tested his patience.

Jones said, "It's frustrating for us, and it's boring to watch."

In summer 2007, the city aims to have residents affected by pool closures swimming at nearby high schools. Don Gagliardi, a downtown resident, asked why money spent on contracts with the schools can't be used to open existing pools by next summer, and his comments drew applause from the crowd.

Bojorquez pointed out reopening the pools by that time is not possible.

"We don't have the money," she said.

The money available for pools includes $200,000 for pool improvements next year, and an annual budget of $81,000 for repairs, Bojorquez noted.

Jeremy Shoffner, head of pools for the parks department, said the city has not determined how it will fund the new pools, but is researching possible sources.

For more information, call 408.535.3570 or visit www.sanjoseca.gov/prns.