Como Pool torpedoed; other area swimming pools are in deep water

October 27, 9:12 AMSouth St. Paul ExaminerRob Shirk

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                  Como Park Swimmig Pool

According to a report on Friday in the Minneapolis Star Tribune by Kevin Giles, the Como Pool in St. Paul's North West side will not be opened again. It has closed for good due to safety problems and the high cost of repair. Brad Meyer, a spokesman for the St. Paul Parks Department, said, "The Como Pool has needed renovations and repairs for umpteen years." The people of St. Paul will have a chance to voice their opinions and solutions at a community meeting Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the park's visitor center auditorium.

A similar problem has existed in South St. Paul for years, with one pool being completely closed and another in derelict shape. The Lorraine Park Pool closing was particularly sad in that the city had just spent a fair amount of money building a splash pool that is toddler safe and family friendly. The full sized pool adjacent to it closed after the money required to fix it was untenable. The pool was built a zillion years ago and the infrastructure also was not safe.

Having two pools in a city our size was generally thought of to be extravagant and so the idea was floated around to renovate the Lorraine pool while upgrading the Northside Park but eliminating the pool. The resolution was confusing, at best. It was a convoluted mess, somehow configured to make everybody angry with nothing, eventually, being done.

As I recall, the resolution was structured into two parts, with one part having to pass before the other would be considered. It was more complicated that the logistics to Operation Overlord in 1944. The north side of town would lose their pool and the south side would rehabilitate the pool next to the already built splash pool. As it turned out, the city wanted to build a "wave pool" and have it as a destination point for the area, hoping to make a few shekels and not have a pool as a loss leader financially. The proposal went down in resounding defeat.

A big box of water with a diving board and a slide, perhaps, is all that was needed. Kids are wildly imaginative and can have hours of fun just being kids without having to be entertained by a fake ocean. And the older crowd doesn't have to be swimming the English Channel just to get some exercise during the lovely summer days. We'd have to redo the ancient and altogether inadequate dressing rooms as well. Put it next to the splash pool that we've already spent money on and we'd have a place for the kids and adults, too, to go during the summer. Keep the aged and crumbling north side pool open for as long as technically feasible.

A municipal swimming pool in Minnesota, open only when school is closed, will never make money. What? Did it make money before? Of course not. We'd have to put it in the budget as a quality of life enhancement for the city and a reason for people to move here and buy their homes here and pay their taxes here and enjoy living here. Were the pools built originally for their profitability? Doubtful. The walking trails and the new dog park don't bring in much money, but we have them to make our town more enjoyable. It's a pride of ownership thing.

If we don't want it, we don't want it, plain and simple. But let's see what kind of solution they can come up with in St.Paul. If they can find a way then perhaps we can, too. The last try was abysmal.