Willow Glen Resident
News
Ambitious plan to upgrade city pools includes Biebrach
By Stephen Baxter
An ambitious proposal to overhaul the city's four closed pools and build 14 more delighted the San Jose City Council, but came with a warning from Mayor Chuck Reed, who said budget constraints are likely to dry out those plans for the near future.
The immediate priority is reopening the four closed pools, which on Aug. 21 the city council voted unanimously to repair and reopen in five years. Until then, the city will continue leasing school pools in the summer.
Council members did approve an aquatic master plan for San Jose, which will include construction of new swim centers, but no funds have been committed.
"Right now, there's no money to build anything new after five years," said Reed, pointing out the multi-million dollar backlog in road and infrastructure projects. "Every swimming pool has to compete with every other city need."
Work, however, is on track to open the Biebrach pool in the Gardner neighborhood by June 2008, and city staff pledged to develop relationships at more schools to lease pools.
The approved aquatic master plan provides city officials with a guideline of what recreational, youth and senior swimmers want. There would be "spraygrounds," family aquatic centers and 50-meter competitive pools.
A hired consultant said the city's six pools met residents' needs in the 1970s, but as the city has grown and pools have been forced to close due to aging facilities, these pools now fall far short of original expectations.
Only two of the city's six pools are open--Camden Swim Center at 3369 Union Ave. and Fair Swim Center at 1350 Bacchus Drive. The rest are closed, including Mayfair Pool and Ryland, Alviso and Biebrach.
Responding to the public's recommendations from 12 meetings, the other new pools would include a larger family aquatic center with 50-meter lanes for competition, an indoor therapy pool and an indoor 50-meter competitive venue that could draw national and international swim meets.
"The community has answered the question of whether we need community pools with a resounding 'yes,' " said Cynthia Bojorquez, deputy director of the city parks department.
There are no new pools earmarked for Willow Glen, but the project calls for a therapy pool, sprayground and medium-family aquatic center in West San Jose, Cambrian and Branham.
The closure of Biebrach pool at 520 W. Virginia St. has irked many Willow Glen residents ever since its most recent closure in May 2005 for health and safety reasons. The pool opened in 1974 and was renovated in 1985. It is one of the largest of the city's pools.
Partially to compensate for Biebrach's closure, this summer the city leased the Del Mar High School pool at 1224 Del Mar Ave. near Willow Glen. From mid-June through to mid-August, it was open to residents from 1 to 7 p.m. The city also leased water time at four other schools, including Santa Teresa High School near Almaden. City staff said they planned to meet with San Jose Unified School District officials on Aug. 24 to talk about pools.
City pools generally charge $2 for admission, which falls far shy of building and maintenance costs. San Jose lost more than $3 million on its pools in the 2007 fiscal year, which ended in July, but leaders said it was worth it.
"We're not going to run them at a profit or anywhere near it," said Councilman Sam Liccardo, who has competed in triathlons.
Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio, who represents Willow Glen, said he is also a swimmer and that the city's goal of building new pools was a good idea.
"We should be a city that promotes lifelong fitness," Oliverio said.
