Pool and gym ?seed money? premature

To the editor:

My children, grandchild, nieces and I have all enjoyed the outdoor pool over the years and I was really up for the idea of a new one. Now, however, I have concerns.

First, we are not looking at $3 million for a pool but as seed money for a $10 million project. If approved by vote the $3 million will not be accessed until $7 million more has been raised for a gym. What the exact breakdown is for pool and gym is not clear ? maybe 3 or 4 for the pool and 6 or 7 for the gym? Nothing will be started until all $10 million has been raised. How long will that take? Which part of the project will be started first? Will one be completed before the other is started? I feel that all the ducks are not yet in a row to justify a ?yes? vote on this plan. I appreciate the enthusiasm of the folks who want the gym but feel the sense of the community is that we wanted a pool.

Secondly, I was concerned about the design of the proposed pool after looking at the drawing in the Ledger. The old pool had a separate wading pool area for our little ones. The proposed design has no separate place for them but something called a zero entry, which would be a slope from the shallowest end with no step (for tots) that would continue its downward slope to deeper water. When visiting with the Park and Rec Director I asked what was to keep a little one from going into the deeper water. He said a rope and a life guard. I don?t think that is adequately safe to keep a 4 year old from getting into serious trouble.

I wasn?t able to go to the meeting about the project (too many stairs), but caught part of it on Channel 9. When discussing fundraising a spokesperson said they haven?t done much research on grants yet, they plan to start doing outreach for fund raising in May, and that they will be working on a ?projected? budget.

Seven million dollars is a whole lot of money to raise and I think the asking is premature. Sorry, I had to vote ?No.?

? LaVergne Dunn, Fairfield