By Austin Williams
The Centralia Fairview Park Pool Committee met on Tuesday to discuss the results of the recent survey sent to Centralia residents concerning a potential pool project, its costs, and potential layouts. The survey had 712 respondents, a number Economic Development Director Derek Sherman said he was satisfied with. He credits the inclusion of a link to the survey in utility bill notes as well as local media coverage with drawing a higher-than-expected response.
A healthy majority of respondents showed interest in a new pool, with 73% answering that they were in favor of Centralia constructing a new outdoor pool. Respondents were less enthusiastic about paying for the pool, however, with 62% opposed to a new property tax and 51% opposed to a new sales tax to fund the project. Asked about admission fees, respondents favored a price of entry in the range of five to seven dollars. These results, according to Sherman, were largely expected.
“All those points, I think, were reinforcing what we’d already been hearing from the community, whether that be online or people coming to city hall or coming to our meetings.
Demographically, survey respondents were more likely to be senior citizens or members of family households. 66% said they anticipated visiting the pool at least sometimes. Asked for what purposes they would use the pool, those surveyed chose recreation and health reasons as the most common uses, while competition and swimming lessons were among the least common. Popular amenities respondents wanted for the pool were diving boards, water slide, zero depth entry, open swim area, and concessions. Respondents were mostly against a standalone splash pad, but many of those who wanted a pool were favorable to the inclusion of a splash pad along with the pool.
Funding will be the biggest hurdle for the pool project. Based on pools in the surrounding area, a new pool in Centralia is not expected to be profitable on its own. Concepts for the pool have price tags in the millions, with the most expensive option being over nine million dollars to construct. Centralia could apply for an OSLAD grant for the pool project. If awarded, this would cover up to $600,000 of the project’s cost, but the city would have to find the rest of the money elsewhere. This is especially challenging given that Centralia is looking to pay for a new water treatment plant, a necessary and expensive project which could leave the city stretched thin.
Taking the results of the survey into consideration, the committee will meet again next month to settle details and prepare to give a recommendation to the city council.
“At the upcoming meeting, we are going to drill in on a couple of data points a little more. We’re going to be fine-tuning what a recommendation to the city council would look like, i.e. picking which type of conceptual plan, and determining the bond capacities the city has or could have moving forward for this project.”
The next pool committee meeting will be Tuesday, December 12 at 5:30 PM at Centralia City Hall. The meeting is open to the public and Centralia residents are welcome to attend.
