Cost of pool skyrockets,
but it's come a long way
By Hilary Craig
While the cost of the new community indoor pool has more than doubled, aquatic director and swim coach Leslie Ayers isn't concerned about the increased expenses.
"What I'm worried about now is getting the building finished," said Ayers, who initiated the plan for the Lexington and Rockbridge Community Pool in 2004.
The pool is currently open for swimming, but the attached building has only one restroom and no showers.
What started as a $300,000 project will ultimately cost $700,000-$750,000, according to Ayers. The original plan was to build the 25-yard pool, covered by an air-supported dome and heated during the winter months, as Phase I and II. That much was completed in April.
But the plan evolved to include windows along the sides and "Phase III" – an attached two-story building with changing rooms and an equipment room. The building accounts for almost all of the added expense. Those additions were originally to come later, but it became clear that all of it was needed as a package.
The added pool-house building still needs plumbing, bathroom fixtures and painting.
The project started three years ago when Ayers and other members of the community formed Friends of Rockbridge Swimming (FOR Swimming) to address what they called a critical need for a public indoor pool.
Ayers has coached Rockbridge County High School's swim team for nine years. The swim team formerly trained at the indoor pools at Washington and Lee University and Virginia Military Institute, but the high school students gradually began to lose practice time.
Pool use costs Daily Use:
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"We began to feel the crunch," said Ayers. "We just didn't have pool space."
FOR Swimming board member Florinda Ruiz's oldest son is the captain of the high school swim team. She also has an 8-year-old who participates in the local swim team. Ruiz and her kids have known the frustration of not having a place to practice.
"It's hard when you see a kid who really wants to do something and put in the effort and the time it takes, but you don't have the facilities," said Ruiz. "They're all dressed up and have nowhere to go."
City and county officials weren't easy to persuade. Lexington donated the property, located on Brewbaker Field near Maury River Middle School. Both the city and county eventually donated $50,000 to the project. Ayers said that Board of Supervisors member Harvey Hotinger was instrumental in generating support from the county.
"It took a lot," said Ayers. "It took lots of public meetings. Everybody thought there weren't enough swimmers and kids to have a pool."
It wasn't until May 2006 that construction of the pool was started.
"When you look back at how much work has happened, it's just mind-boggling," said Ayers.
FOR Swimming has already raised more than $350,000. According to Ayers, most of the debt will be paid off in three to five years by donors.
When Ayers realized that the pool house needed to be an integral part of the project, though, FOR Swimming began a "Raise the Roof" campaign, which asked 100 families, individuals and businesses to become the building blocks of the project by donating "bricks and foundation stones." Bricks are donations of $500; foundation stones start at $2,500.
Ayers and her husband, John Gunner, of Gunner Construction, have donated "more than we intended to," she said.
Gunner is also the main contractor for the pool.
FOR Swimming needs fewer than a dozen more donations of $500 and four more donations of at least $2,500 to complete its "Raise the Roof" campaign, a small part of the total cost of the attached building, said Ayers. When the pool house is complete, a mural of the bricks and foundation stones recognizing the families and businesses that contributed will be displayed in the entrance.
In addition to the "Raise the Roof" campaign, the group raised money through pool-a-thons, by having residents pledge money by the number of laps participants would swim. Ruiz said that one such pool-a-thon raised $30,000.
Recently, FOR Swimming received an $8,000 grant to make it the only handicapped- accessible pool in the area. The grant funded an accessible parking lot as well as a lift to help disabled patrons in and out of the pool.
The daily schedule for the pool is packed with programs -- for Maury River Middle School students, swim team practices, and Aquacise, a pool exercise routine. Tuesday and Thursday evenings as well as weekends are reserved for family swim time.
Maury River Middle School students have designated swim times twice a day during school. Ayers teaches them about water safety, gives swimming lessons, and helps kids who have anxiety disorders about the water.
Ayers said that swimming is important not only for school-aged children, but for the elderly as well.
For a lot of old people, "this is the only thing they can do," she said.
Pool membership runs from November to May. Membership fees range from $160 for youth to $400 for a household. Ayers says approximately 100 families have memberships.
Daily pool use is also available and costs $6 for adults without membership and $3 for children.
But Ruiz doesn't think that many residents will pay for just one-time use.
"Most of the money that comes in is from memberships," she said. "Very few people in the middle of January will want to go swimming just once."
In the future Ayers hopes to create a small therapy pool for older adults to soothe arthritis pain, but for now, both Ayers and Ruiz are proud of what FOR Swimming has achieved.
"The fact that this was accomplished by just a few families who got together is a tremendous success," said Ruiz.
Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.
Lead Supervisor:
Prof. Brian Richardson
Prof. Phylissa Mitchell
Reporting supervisors:
Prof. Doug Cumming
Prof. Pamela Luecke
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd