There are plenty of under used municipal and school pools across the country that could be bought or managed by an outside organization, just for the promise of occasional public access. USMS is not loaded with money, but has lots of knowledge and experienced people who could pull off a stunt like this. One club in Indiana has done just this thing by taking over a county pool that was in peril of closing because it could not afford to operate it. As far as I know, the agreement is still in force and the USMS club is still paying for operations by its own management and programming.
San Diego has three public pools but cannot afford to keep them all open at once, so they have one or two open and close the other one (or two) on a rotating basis. Not a good way to keep programs filled.
Orca: USMS has money which is currently invested in conservative vehicles, waiting for an opportunity like this. The last number I remember is about $3-5 million. After the covid it may be down, but will rebound.
Are you suggesting that USMS spend their 'rainy day fund' to subsidize the operation and maintenance of swimming pools in order to create greater pool availability for members? This sounds like the prelude to a sizable increase in dues. I'm not against your proposal, per se, it just seems like there are a lot of questions to be answered. Also of note, most members do not participate in USMS national events, nor would most members use one, two or three pools that USMS was operating. This might result in some acrimony from membership were dues to be increased in order to support such a venture.
Orca: USMS has money which is currently invested in conservative vehicles, waiting for an opportunity like this. The last number I remember is about $3-5 million. After the covid it may be down, but will rebound.
Are you suggesting that USMS spend their 'rainy day fund' to subsidize the operation and maintenance of swimming pools in order to create greater pool availability for members? This sounds like the prelude to a sizable increase in dues. I'm not against your proposal, per se, it just seems like there are a lot of questions to be answered. Also of note, most members do not participate in USMS national events, nor would most members use one, two or three pools that USMS was operating. This might result in some acrimony from membership were dues to be increased in order to support such a venture.
