PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles School District board is urging the city to come up with an approach to keep William Shore Memorial Pool open — at least past Dec. 31.
The City Council, looking at its preliminary 2009 budget, said last month that the pool will close on Dec. 31 unless a firm plan is in place to fund pool operations.
The facility will close after March 31 if the plan doesn’t meet that goal.
The March 31 date would accommodate the winter sports season of the Port Angeles High School swim team, whose season continues until the end of February.
“The winter sports season was established through our Olympic League directors and the closure would affect many school districts,” School Board President Cindy Kelly wrote Mayor Gary Braun.
Financial conditions in the school district — it has closed two elementary schools this decade — keeps it from taking over pool funding, Schools Superintendent Gary Cohn said.
“Nevertheless, the School Board and district leadership pledged to partner with the city to find creative means to support the pool in the short run, and we remain open to new ideas,” he said.
School bond proposal
The district is also considering placing a bond issue before voters that might include a pool, Cohn said.
Those plans, aimed at refurbishing several aging school buildings, including several at Port Angeles High School, are still in a committee process.
The School Board will be handed a proposal early next year.
“BLRB [Architects of Seattle] will bring numerous options for the School Board to consider in the spring, some which will include the possibility of building a pool as part of badly needed major renovations to Port Angeles schools,” Cohn said.
“Whether including a replacement pool will survive the committee process or be selected by the School Board are decisions that won’t be made until next spring.”
Another proposal to keep William Shore Pool open has been posed by Clallam County officials: a special taxing district that extends beyond the Port Angeles city limit.
A similar taxing district built the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center in Sequim, although the pool facility there has been supported only by user fees and dues since 2002.
No decision on whether to seek a district in greater Port Angeles is expected before year’s end at the earliest.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
