The city’s fundraising drive for the new community pool in Goodman Park, formerly Franklin Field on Olin Avenue, may reach into public funds to cover the costs of upgrading the pool to a 1,000 person capacity, as proposed by Mayor Dave Cieslewicz to the City Council Tuesday night.
Ald. Zach Brandon, District 7, said he was uncomfortable with the initial $500,000 the city put into the project.
“Now we’re potentially on the hook for $1.2 million,” Brandon said, referring to the additional $670,000 that will be needed to build the $4 million large pool. “I think it’s sort of a case that we need to accept the fact that we tried our best and weren’t able to fundraise as much as we needed.”
The city has already raised enough money to build a smaller-sized 800 person capacity pool. According to Jim Morgan, superintendent of the City of Madison Parks Division, a decision will have to be made by March 1 between the large pool and the small pool.
“This [money] allows us to give the consultant go ahead to design the big pool and then fundraise for a couple weeks,” Morgan said. “All this does is authorize us to sign the contracts for design while the money is raised.”
According to Morgan, a smaller pool will be “wonderful,” however there will be many days when children and families will have to wait in line to use the pool facility.
Ald. Cindy Thomas, District 20, said she does not believe the city can afford to spend money on things, such as a larger pool, that may be nice to have but are not basic services. Thomas said she wants the pool to pay for itself through admission fees; otherwise it may become a drain on the city.
“It’s absolutely unnecessary to build a pool of that size, especially if they are talking to build pools in other areas,” Thomas said. “This is the Cadillac of all pools. If I can’t buy a Cadillac or BMW, then I have to buy a Chevy.”
According to Thomas, if Madison residents want a larger pool, then they have to decide to help pay for it through more expensive fees. A higher admission cost may exclude some members of the community, Thomas added.
