Photograph by Robert Scheer
The existing Saratoga High School pool is too small and too shallow, say school officials.
By Mark Kregel
Principal Kevin Skelly last week asked the Parks and Recreation Commission to contribute $700,000 from its development fund to the building of an Olympic-size swimming pool at Saratoga High School.
The new pool would replace an existing pool which is too small and too shallow, Skelly said, making his pitch before a March 3 commission meeting.
The estimated cost of the pool is $1 million, and Skelly is trying to raise the remainder of the money from the Saratoga High School Booster Club and other donors.
"This would guarantee a revenue stream," Skelly said. "With cooperation, we could save [parks and recreation] programs."
The pool would be governed in a joint-use fashion, Skelly said, and would be open to the community during school hours. It would turn a profit from user's fees, he said.
"If they ask for that large of a chunk of money, I would like to see the school embrace all of its residents," commission member Jenny Krotty said.
Krotty was referring to the fact that many high school students in Saratoga do not attend Saratoga High School, but go to outlying schools such as Lynbrook, Prospect and Westmont.
"It would be a wonderful service to the community, but I want to find out how profitable it would be," Recreation Director Joan Pisani said.
Pisani said she will do market research by contacting other schools that already have Olympic-size pools.
Pisani said one of the problems is that there are many other contenders for park funds, including citizens who want new sports fields.
The funds to build the pool would come out of a $2 million Saratoga park development fund, which may only be used for the development of new recreation facilities. The department has already spent $104,000 on a new bathroom for Hakone Gardens.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, March 12, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.