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Swimmer pushes for pool partnership
By Sam Scott
Sunnyvale resident Holly Lofgren swims 100 miles a year, a fact that her light blonde hair attests to. The problem, she says, is that to swim that far, she has to drive many times that distance to get to pools in other cities. Sunnyvale, she says, lacks a proper lap pool. The available ones are dirty, open at impractical hours, or the wrong size, she says.
"There is no other service in Sunnyvale that is more behind than swimming," she says. "There isn't anything else that is more neglected."
The dearth of good places where adults can swim is something she aims to change, even if it means spending all her free time raising awareness (and a small fortune.)
"I'm not a person who likes to walk away from problems," she says. "I'm determined."
Robert Walker, head of the city's Parks and Recreation Department, would agree.
"I don't know that I've ever seen any community member work as hard as Holly has on any particular issue."
The shirt she is wearing says "You don't have to wait for your ship to come in to swim." It is an appropriate motto for her. For six years, Lofgren has been lobbying for a new pool to no avail. Now she has what she says is the last and best chance for getting the public swim pool she wants for the community. Fremont High has plans to put in a new pool next year. They are willing to form a partnership with the city that would make the pool available to the public in exchange for the city's paying a share of the construction and operating costs.
It is an offer that interests the council to a degree.
"If we don't take advantage of this opportunity, in five or ten years we will wish we had," councilmemember Fred Fowler says. However, he also says the city has no extra money and finding the funds would mean cutting from other services.
Vice mayor Pat Vorreiter, who says she is a swimmer herself, is less enthusiastic. "We have to do a cost-benefit analysis to make sure this is something that more than a handful of people will enjoy."
Her concern is echoed by council member Jack Walker who says he worries that the pool will only benefit a small group of swimmers.
To help make the partnership more attractive to the city, Lofgren has formed a group--The Friends of the Fremont Pool--to raise funds to pay the operating costs of the pool. Like her shirt says, she is not waiting for her ship to come in so she can swim. She says the group numbers over 200. They have a web site, a hotline, and tee-shirts. Lofgren's front room is filled with charts, maps, and pictures. She works fulltime on the project. The group is serious, but their goal--a million dollars--is just as serious.
Walker says that the city's share of the operating expenses isn't known yet. He says it could range from $65,000 to $125,000. The interest from the million dollars would be used for operating expenses.
It's a lofty goal for Lofgren and the Friends of the Fremont Pool to reach, but Lofgren seems confident. She says she knows of many other groups that have raised similar amounts. The Friends of the Fremont Pool have a fundraising consultant from Stanford working for them without cost. They want to build awareness, getting small donations and hoping for some very big ones, she says.
"We've to surmount invisible walls and find those people who are interested in the project," she says.
They have until spring to reach their goal, at which time Walker says that the issue should come before the Park and Recreation Commission.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
