News File Photo The entrance to the Alpena County Plaza Pool is seen in this News file photo.
ALPENA — Alpena County, Alpena Public Schools, and other local stakeholders are exploring options that could lead to the construction of a new community pool and the closure of the Alpena County Plaza Pool.
The process is in its infancy, but if a new pool were built, it could alleviate the financial burden the pool has on county funds.
Alpena County owns the pool and contracts with Synchronization Management to run it.
At Thursday’s Alpena County Facilities, Capital & Strategic Planning Committee meeting, County Administrator Mary Catherine Hannah updated the commissioners on the talks, and discussed a new leak in the pool that needs to be located and fixed.
Hannah said having a new pool owned, operated, and managed by multiple partners could be beneficial to the county, and affordable for its users.
“There is a group that is getting more serious in discussions about a new pool. They are made up of different stakeholders that are interested in it, including the school,” Hannah said. “There is very strong interest from the school and other groups who may even be able to pony up some fairly significant dollars to get a new facility built.”
The question, Hannah said, is if planning gets to the point where constructing a new pool is given the green light, how long would it take for it to open? She said if it takes five years, the county would likely have to invest a significant amount of money to maintain and operate the Plaza Pool.
If it is done in two years, Hannah said, the county could do just the minimum to keep the Plaza Pool open.
“We could continue to just spit and duct tape it,” Hannah said. “We would like to keep the pool operational right up until the new one is up and running.”
The leak at the pool has still not been found, but Hannah said about two inches of water drained from the pool overnight. She said maintenance employees will remove portions of the pool deck to find moisture and track the location of the leak. Then, she said, the needed repair will be made.
Hannah said the Plaza Pool is about 50 years old.
“It has had some minor upgrades like ventilators and air handling units, but the guts of the pool are original,” she said. “The control systems continue to be an issue too.”
A great deal of the money that pays to keep the pool afloat comes from revenue from the county-wide Youth and Recreation millage. A renewal of the millage is on the ballot in August and if it were to fail, it would likely mean the end of it.
Hannah said if the millage renewal passes, a grant application seeking funding for the new pool could be submitted to the Youth and Recreation board.
“There could be potential for that, Hannah said. “We would have to go to Youth and Rec. and see if it would be open to it.”
Hannah said if the Plaza Pool were to close or a wait ensues for a new pool, many people would miss out on the services a pool provides.
She said the swimming lessons are very important because of Alpena’s proximity to lakes and rivers, and the source of recreation and therapy it provides older residents.
“Having swimming lessons is one of the absolutely critical things we need to have for an area surrounded by water and the idea that we wouldn’t have a safe place where people can learn to swim and be safe in the water would be a detriment,” she said. “Also, being in the pool is some of the only exercise some people can do, especially some of our older population.”
People who also want to take scuba diving lessons also need the pool so they can learn the ropes before moving into the nearby lakes.
In addition to many residents, Hannah said many people travel to Alpena to swim laps and take lessons, which helps to stimulate the local economy.
“We don’t only have huge use from our own community, we also pull well from outside of the community,” she said. “They come into the community, they spend dollars, go to the restaurants and do other things while they are here.That is not to be sneezed at.”
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