Hi,
My Masters swim team is going to attempt to gain support for a 50 meter pool to be built in our city at an upcoming city counsel meeting. I vaguely remember a similar thread a while back where people listed both pros and cons for a 50 meter pool vs. two smaller pools but I can't seem to find it with the search function. Can anyone help lead me in the right direction? If not, please just respond to this new thread. We really need this pool.
Thanks,
-GG
Parents
Former Member
Here is the sad update on this 50 meter project.
the team presented a well organized case, arguing that the team would cover additional construction costs, and additional maintainance costs for a negotiable period of about 10 years.
the team made a good argument for the pool as a community resource.
But we got in the process late, and the city staff found out that a couple of side streets were projected to increase traffic flow by about 7 cars a day. That would trigger another environmental impact report that would, they said, take almost another year and would cost $100,000 dollars. The city council voted against the larger pool 3 - 2. There were some strong emotions floating around that I don't fully understand.
While many of the suggestions here were good, they weren't quite applicable to this situation. In particular, the pool would have been located in the middle of a mid-sized city, on the border between commercial and residential districts. The residential district is well organized with people with strong voices, and is generally against growth, or perceived growth, of any sort. Income is not a strong motivator - after all, the city turned down what was effectively a free upgrade from a 25 to a 50 meter pool. The political task was to convince the sceptical that the pool would have no effect on the surrounding environment.
Meanwhile, the pool we are using just reduced the number of workouts from 19 to 9, and things have gotten more crowded, and the lack of noon workouts, now gone, is a big problem. Not good for what I understand is the "third largest masters team in the country!"
Here is the sad update on this 50 meter project.
the team presented a well organized case, arguing that the team would cover additional construction costs, and additional maintainance costs for a negotiable period of about 10 years.
the team made a good argument for the pool as a community resource.
But we got in the process late, and the city staff found out that a couple of side streets were projected to increase traffic flow by about 7 cars a day. That would trigger another environmental impact report that would, they said, take almost another year and would cost $100,000 dollars. The city council voted against the larger pool 3 - 2. There were some strong emotions floating around that I don't fully understand.
While many of the suggestions here were good, they weren't quite applicable to this situation. In particular, the pool would have been located in the middle of a mid-sized city, on the border between commercial and residential districts. The residential district is well organized with people with strong voices, and is generally against growth, or perceived growth, of any sort. Income is not a strong motivator - after all, the city turned down what was effectively a free upgrade from a 25 to a 50 meter pool. The political task was to convince the sceptical that the pool would have no effect on the surrounding environment.
Meanwhile, the pool we are using just reduced the number of workouts from 19 to 9, and things have gotten more crowded, and the lack of noon workouts, now gone, is a big problem. Not good for what I understand is the "third largest masters team in the country!"
