Willow Glen Resident
News
When it heats up, residents will be able to cool off in an open pool
By Mayra Flores De Marcotte
Summers will be wet again with the reopening of Biebrach pool in the Gardner district in 2008, but until then school pools will fill in.
This summer the Willow Glen community can use either Willow Glen Middle or Del Mar High schools' pools.
"They're the cheapest game in town," said Cynthia Bojorquez, San Jose parks, recreation and neighborhood services deputy director. "It's a great value."
In order to encourage residents to use the school pools, evening and weekend hours have been added, but attendance is at a crawl.
"We opened last week, but the turnout wasn't what we expected," Bojorquez said. "It's a shame to have these facilities open and not used. It's a way for community members to get out of the heat and meet their neighbors. With $2, you can't even get a candy bar these days."
The school pools are being rented until the public pools have been renovated. This is the short-term solution that has been piggybacked onto the citywide aquatics proposed master plan. The aquatics master plan will be reviewed by city council when it returns from its July break.
"There's a total of about $7.7 million over the next five years to reopen pools by next summer, add future pools and lease school pools," Bojorquez said.
This includes a yearly budget for each pool, which includes maintenance and operational costs, she said.
San Jose City Council established $500,000 of each district's budget to go toward reopening the closed pools.
The funds will come out of each district's unallocated park dedication fees and construction conveyance taxes.
In the case of Biebrach, however, there was insufficient funding because it was one of two closed pools in District 3.
District 3 Councilman Sam Liccardo and District 6 Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio are sharing the cost, Bojorquez said.
Liccardo will contribute $500,000 from the District 3 budget and another $1.4 million in unallocated parkland dedication funds. Oliverio will contribute $400,000 of his district's $500,000 budget toward the repair of the pool and the remaining $100,000 toward the cost of leasing two school pools in his district--Willow Glen Middle and Del Mar High schools, Bojorquez said.
All three pools--Biebrach, Ryland and Alviso--are being worked on simultaneously and are scheduled to be open next summer.
Biebrach pool repairs will include the removal of the existing plaster and tile along with replastering and adding tiles for waterline, lane lines and depth markers.
The existing pool drains, skimmers, mechanical and chemical delivery systems, filters, circulation pumps, heaters and piping in the mechanical room will all be replaced.
A new ADA-approved hoist to enter and exit the pool, restroom fixtures, partitions and accessories, and a lifeguard chair are the other repairs that are planned. The damaged pool deck will be removed and replaced and sealant will be applied.
"This renovation project does not include all the bells and whistles, like shade structures," Bojorquez said. "We would really like to come back and see if there is a way to include these in the future."
Gardner's Biebrach pool was one of four city pools closed in 2005.
The closed facility, with its six-lane, 25-yard pool, is the largest of all the recreational swimming facilities. The city wanted to capitalize on that. Officials found the idea attractive because Biebrach has the largest service area, including Washington, Willow Glen, Palm Haven, North Willow Glen, Gardner, Tamien and Midtown.
At the Feb. 27 city council meeting, more than 20 residents representing the Gardner and downtown communities told the council they weren't interested in frills or anything splashy, just their basic pools.
The city's six pools were built between the 1930s and 1970s, and are of standard rectangular form, with the exception of downtown's Ryland. In 2005, the San Jose City Council voted to close four of them, including Biebrach Pool, due to safety and health code violations and inadequate revenue streams.
The fourth, Mayfair, was approved for renovations in August 2006.
Bojorquez said a primary cause of the pools' deterioration has been a lack of maintenance, and the citywide master plan was the first step in ensuring this did not happen again.
Willow Glen Middle School and Del Mar High School will be open to the public through Aug. 11. Recreational swimming will be available Monday through Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. and Tuesday and Friday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The cost is $2.
Along with recreational swimming, lessons will be offered at $45, Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and 3:45 to 6 p.m. For more information, call the citywide aquatics office, 408.277.2291.
