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Mike Brown
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Austin Fesmire
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Jeff Long
Not all the small cities near Hamilton County offer a public swimming pool, but officials of those that do agree the summer recreation attractions are a service to residents.
Austin Fesmire, the Athens, Tenn., director of parks and recreation, said times have changed, though.
Athens used to have four city pools about half a century ago, but a recent survey indicated patron usage can justify one pool only for McMinn County’s biggest city.
“Less than 100 swim here during day operating hours with a modest $2 daily fee for youth and $3 for adults,” Mr. Fesmire said. “We have heavy night use of the pool, with group or individual party reservations on about 75 of the 77 dates of pool operation this summer.”
Building and maintaining a public pool is a major expense for a small-city budget, officials note.
Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., opened its new $890,000 city pool last weekend. It’s the only new municipal pool developed in the area for many years.
POOL FACTS
In Northwest Georgia, LaFayette, Trenton, Dalton, Ringgold and Fort Oglethorpe all have city pools, but Rossville and Chickamauga do not.
Southeast Tennessee cities with pools include Cleveland, South Pittsburg and Athens, but Jasper, Dunlap and Dayton do not.
Fort Oglethorpe Recreation Director Jeff Long said there has been growing demand for a pool as the city has grown, but “Municipal swimming pools are not moneymakers.”
“We were $20,000 shy of breaking even in 2007,” Mr. Long said. “You’re doing well If you come close to breaking even financially.”
Ringgold, Ga., City Manager Dan Wright said about $50,000 is in his city’s budget for pool expenses such as chemicals, lifeguard wages, insurance and pool maintenance.
“Our pool has undergone several upgrades in the time following its construction in the 1960s,” Mr. Wright said. “Council members consider providing the pool and the expense as a service. We come within $5,000 to $10,000 of breaking even.”
Mr. Wright said the pool provides a family oriented recreational environment and addresses the life-safety issues of learning to swim, with lessons taught at the facility.
Officials with all the cities operating pools agreed the biggest expense is salaries for lifeguards, followed by periodic upgrades of pumps and filtration systems.
Patti Petitt, director of Cleveland, Tenn., Parks and Recreation, said the city has three municipal pools that see a lot of use.
“The city considers the swimming pools a service, but with heavy use we come close to breaking even,” Ms. Petitt said, noting pool rates have not increased in four years.
The decision to again not raise the fee this year was to keep it affordable so families can remain close to home for recreation and avoid the punishment of high gasoline prices.
Ms. Petitt said Cleveland even offers free swim lessons.
Trenton, Ga., is much smaller than Cleveland, but Park Director Ronnie Page said the city comes “decently close” to breaking even on the pool operation.
“I’ve been here 12 years and we have had just one pool fee increase,” he said.
But Rossville Mayor Johnny Baker said his city decided to stop operating its pool about three years ago and filled the structure in.
He said the pool was small, and Rossville kept losing money with a $2 daily admission becoming for some parents a cheap baby-sitting service. Mr. Baker said the city was unable to justify the expense.
“The YMCA operated it for two years, but lost about $20,000,” he said. “When the city ceased pool operations the facility had cracks and was leaking. We were also concerned with the liability insurance consequences if a casualty occurred.”
Mike Brown, facilities coordinator with the Dalton, Ga., Parks and Recreation Department, said the city’s vintage pool was opened in 1963, but can handle up to 500 residents.
“Our expenses for the pool are about $50,000 to $60,000, but it’s a service and open seven days a week in the summer season,” Mr. Brown said.
South Pittsburg, Tenn., parks director A.J. Fox said the city last year put a new filtration system on the 40-year-old pool.
The daily admission is just $1, but, like in his sister area cities, the operation is considered a service for South Pittsburg residents, he said.
“We are talking about a replacement indoor pool,” Mr. Fox said. “An indoor operation could be used throughout the year, but might carry a price tag in the range of $1 million to $1.5 million.”
Some cities just never considered they needed a pool, though.
Dayton, Tenn., Recreation Director James Beach said his town has never operated one.
“But, we’re surrounded with lakes.”
