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City expresses interest but delays pool endorsement
By Sam Scott
If you come, they may build it. After hours of speeches by swimming advocates, Sunnyvale City Council on May 2, gave a tepid endorsement to a proposed Olympic pool at Fremont High School. Council voted 6-0 to express interest in jointly building a 50-meter pool with Fremont Union School District in Sunnyvale, but deferred making a final decision until it examines next year's city operating budget in June.
"I like the idea of a pool," Vice Mayor Jack Walker said. "I don't like the idea of the cost. If the money's not there, I'm quite willing to vote against it."
Parks and recreation director Robert Walker said building the pool basically would require the city to split expenses with the district and pay a one-time construction cost of about $1.5 million and yearly maintenance costs of $135,000.
Walker said finding the money would be a challenge.
Councilwoman Julia Miller said she was ready to approve the project immediately, saying the money would be found somehow.
"We have studied this thing to death," she said. "This will be a tremendous asset to the city."
The city, by its own admission, agrees that existing facilities don't accommodate the demands of adult swimmers. Sunnyvale's only pool, at Washington Park, is open only six months a year and is poorly shaped for lap swimming. Partnerships with four schools in the Sunnyvale School District provide short periods of daily swimming, but their facilities reportedly are below par and their availability is limited--a message the council has heard repeatedly from swimmers during the study process.
Holly Lofgren, head of Friends of the Fremont Pool, said she was disappointed at the postponement of a final decision. She has lobbied for a new pool for more than six years.
"I thought if the community showed up like they did, they [council] would pass it," she said.
Supporters of the pool, young and old, swimmers and parents of swimmers, filled the council chambers to standing room early. Almost 30 of them spoke at the meeting. Scores more waved blue pennants to show silent support for the sentiments expressed.
Charlie Olson, a lifetime resident of Sunnyvale and supporter of the pool, said he hadn't seen such a large, unified group in Sunnyvale in a long time. However, Mayor Pat Vorreiter said she was unsure if the support extended beyond those present at the meeting.
The school district plans to build a new pool at Fremont High regardless of the city's decision. Without the city's assistance, the district plans a 30-meter pool, designed primarily for school needs. With the city's assistance, the district would build a publicly accessible Olympic-sized pool, complete with a separate bathhouse.
Chris Campbell, a Sunnyvale resident and lifetime swimmer, said that the city's refusal to take a leadership position has stymied efforts by the Friends of the Fremont Pool to raise money to defray the pool's operating cost. The group so far has raised $190,000 of its $1 million goal. With more concrete support from the city, Campbell said, the group could reach its target quickly.
"I think if we get official support from the council, we'll have that money in a month," he said. He did not think the interest expressed Tuesday by council members would be enough.
"I'm frustrated," Campbell said. "Without their support, we're selling vapors."
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
