West St. Paul city officials and residents agree: The pool here needs a life preserver. But can the city afford to make a big splash in renovating the aging infrastructure, or will a few patches keep things afloat?
The city of West St. Paul’s community pool at 92 W. Orme St. (Molly Guthrey / Pioneer Press)
The West St. Paul pool opens for the season on May 31, but the waterslide has been closed indefinitely due to safety concerns. The move comes after city officials began reviewing the future of the aging community pool, which was originally constructed in 1956 and last underwent a major renovation in 1999.
The deeper swimming pool was built seven decades ago, while the splash pool came later at the turn of the century. The pool house itself is structurally sound, city staff found, but the original pool and newer splash pool have aging infrastructure and mechanical items that need repair.
Last summer, the city asked residents and pool-goers their thoughts about keeping the pool open, closing it, and also potential amenities they would like to see at an aquatic area. Results came back heavily in favor of both keeping and renovating the pool, with 95 percent of the 400 respondents favoring either renovating or replacing the pool, compared to closing it down or moving to a new site.
“We really enjoy it. It has an old-fashioned feel to it,” said Stephanie Schempp of West St. Paul.
She goes to the pool nearly every day with her two sons. When Schempp first heard that the pool’s future might be in jeopardy, she emailed her city council members to advocate for the pool, calling it a “third place” for community members, a place other than home or work where residents can come together.
“It reminds me of my own childhood in the ’80s and ’90s; I love that my kids have a place like this that we can go to,” Schempp said. “We don’t want to lose what we have.”
Two paths
The West St. Paul’s community pool at 92 W. Orme St. (Molly Guthrey / Pioneer Press)
Diagnosing the slide’s safety came within the framework of a larger discussion – should the city continue to make smaller, piecemeal repairs, while the overall site still needs larger renovations?
“We could do another Band Aid fix, but is that the best way to go about this? Probably not,” said Eric Weiss, West St. Paul parks, recreation, environment and sustainability director. “We said, ‘Let’s take a pause on smaller projects for now.’ We want to balance our investments in the pool, and we want to make sure they are smart moves, and ensure that we are good stewards of our pretty limited resources. It’s a small but mighty place, and people cherish it.”
In terms of renovating the slide as an example, Weiss said, the city didn’t want to spend upward of $150,000 only to realize that the concrete under the structure would also need to be replaced.
In February, the city council reviewed the state of the pool at a work session, finding two potential paths in renovating the site.
The first, a 25-year renovation solution that would cost roughly $1.3 million, would replace smaller items and keep the footprint of the site largely intact.
The second option was a large-scale, 50-year renovation solution that would cost just above an estimated $4 million. That could include pool decking, equipment, the vessels for the deeper pool and the splash pool, as well as flexibility to potentially change the site layout and design.
What’s next
The city of West St. Paul’s community pool at 92 W. Orme St. (Molly Guthrey / Pioneer Press)
What happens next regarding those planning discussions?
City staff are currently in the budgeting season, reviewing how these options could fit into the larger context of the West St. Paul city budget and capital improvement plan.
“Everyone agrees that we want to keep it, and we want to make it happen, but how do we do it?” Weiss said. “We’re in a situation where we want to look at all of those options, and there is some thought — pun intended — if we’re going to do it we want to make a splash, we don’t want to just work around the edges.”
While February’s council work session brought all options to the table – things like relocating the pool, closing the pool and redistributing smaller aquatic facilities throughout the community, or closing the pool and not adding other swimming options — the council chose to direct staff to first study the two renovation plans.
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West St. Paul Mayor Dave Napier, who recalls swimming in the pool himself as a young child, said the desire to keep the pool exists, but city officials will need to be creative in finding ways to provide funding for what would be a costly renovation project.
Could an eventual tax referendum go to the voters? Napier said it could be an option, reasoning that the community would have a chance to decide the pool’s eventual fate.
“There are a lot of challenges to our budget. It’s not like we have a bunch of money sitting around to fix the pool,” Napier said. “The good news is, we are opening the pool this year. The bad news is, the slide is closed. We really believe in it and want to keep it. I believe we will get there, but we need to be creative on how to fund it, and how we make it happen.
“Because once it’s gone, it’s gone,” Napier said.
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