Water park tale runs deep
Meg Alexander — Staff WriterArticle Photos
FAIRMONT - It's provided 10 years of safe, summer family fun, as well as fodder for disgruntled citizens upset with city government for building an outdoor pool in Minnesota.
Since it opened in 1999, close to 350,000 people have attended Fairmont Aquatic Park. The facility has generated $2.24 million in revenue in a decade, but expenses total $3.29 million, which means the city has subsidized an average of $100,000 per year.
Obviously, it's not a money-maker.
"It's a service to the community, to keep kids safe and keep people healthy and exercising," said Betsy Steuber, manager of the facility.
Like its name implies, it's a park, and just as Gomsrud or Sylvania parks don't pay for themselves, neither does the Aquatic Park. Last year, the city's culture and recreation deficit was $1.253 million, which puts some perspective on the Aquatic Park's $100,000 subsidy.
"I've been really happy with the pool," said City Councilman Harlan Gorath, who served on the council when the aquatic park was approved. "... I think we did the right thing. I know that many people would like to have an enclosed pool year round. And I believe that's something we'd really lose money on. And many people who would like to use it are people who go south for the winter. Plus an indoor pool would have to compete with school events."
For years, the town did have an Olympic-size indoor pool at Fairmont Middle School, before the school was converted into Five Lakes Elementary as it stands today. Gorath taught in Fairmont for years, and he recalls the decline of the pool, starting with when swimming was cut from gym class.
"Then the school decided to bail out and cut back and pretty soon (city taxes) were paying for it," Gorath said.
Temperature and humidity controls were problematic for the indoor pool, and cost of maintenance and necessary equipment updates were soaring. As expenses were increasing, attendance records show usage was decreasing. In an effort to recoup some funds, the pool was shut down during the colder months of the year, when attendance was at its lowest. And then, in 1995, the facility was finally shut down completely.
For several years, Fairmont went without any pool. Meanwhile, efforts were afoot to build a new facility.
A referendum to build an indoor facility failed miserably - 4,394 votes were against authorizing the city to bond for $3.5 million if $1 million was privately raised; 790 voted in favor of the measure.
However, the city did have $2.2 million on hand, in cash, mainly through liquor store revenue. That was the cost to build the Aquatic Park.
"The city pool had been closed and the YMCA referendum failed. This was the next step," said Donna Holstine, mayor when the council made the decision to use "enterprise funds" to build the Aquatic Park.
Not enough money was available to build an indoor pool, said Jim Zarling, city administrator. And besides, "building a facility is usually the easy part."
Zarling estimated subsidizing an indoor facility would be about three times as much as the Aquatic Park costs the city.
"I think that we're doing the best that we can to provide services to the citizens of Fairmont to have a safe and modern aquatic park," Gorath said.
Looking back, Holstine also is proud of the project.
"It was a team effort," she said. "We were a team (the council and Jim Zarling) when we did it."
The main goal was to provide children with a safe place to learn how to swim, and that was accomplished, she believes, even if the pool wasn't popular with everyone.
"With every single decision in life, you're never going to make everybody happy, but you just have to weigh the value of each project with its own merits," Holstine said. "I think that's why we as a council felt this project would be one that would benefit the whole community."
Anywhere from 400 to 500 swimming lessons are given each season, at a cost of $30 per person. The actual cost of the lessons are more like $60, but the council has wanted to make the classes as affordable as possible.
"The council feels since we have all these lakes, everyone should have an opportunity to learn how to swim," Zarling said. "So in a sense, we're subsidizing swimming lessons."
Another goal with the park was to bring people into Fairmont from out of town. This goal also was reached. Competition from other communities has cropped up since the facility was first built, but it still continues to draw visitors into Fairmont.
"We regularly have busloads of people coming from other communities to take advantage of it," Zarling said.
So what does the future hold for the park?
This summer, a rock-climbing wall was going to be added, but because of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's "unallotments" of local government aid, that plan was put on hold. The council also investigated adding a lazy river someday, but the $1.2 million price tag deflated that idea.
Even without adding anything new to the park, there are obviously expenses to keep it up and running.
"Like any other asset, you have to invest in maintenance," Zarling said. "... As it gets older, it will require additional maintenance."
Money is set aside for major capital expenditures, but as for year-to-year expenses, Zarling didn't seem concerned.
"The investment to freshen up anything isn't something we can't handle in a normal budget cycle," he said.
For the facility's 10-year anniversary, the city is hosting a birthday bash the weekend of July 11-12.
On July 11, the celebration will kick off with KFMC holding a live remote from noon-2 p.m. Visitors can get a hot dog, bag of chips and can of pop for $1. The following day, July 12, birthday cake will be served in the afternoon. Popcorn for 10 cents will be given out all weekend, and swimmers can register for prize giveaways.
Other special events this month include free admittance for grandparents on Grandparents Day, July 12; and a July 4th special on Saturday, with the first 50 visitors wearing patriotic colors to receive a free gift.
Admission is $4 per person during open swim hours - noon-6 p.m. weekdays and noon-7 p.m. weekends. The time will change to noon-7 p.m. daily starting July 13 through Aug. 23, when the pool closes for the year. Aquacize aerobics and fitness swims are $2 per one-hour class, at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. during the weekday until July 10, and 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. after July 13.
The facility features a zero-depth entry pool with an interactive play area for children; a 75-foot long recreation pool; a diving pit with two springboards and drop slides; and a 225-foot water slide and 127-foot speed slide. If the weather is cooperating, the pools are usually packed, but anyone interesting in swimming laps should go to the counter and ask staff to put down a lane line, or come at the start of the day or right before close, Steuber recommended.
"You go out there and see the number of kids and families enjoying the park on a regular basis - and you wonder, if it wasn't there, what would they be doing?" Zarling said.
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07-03-09 10:36 PM
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I must say I support the AP. I'd like to find a community pool that actually does make a profit. Recently, I have seen many swimming in the lakes, but with all the toxicities in the lakes from the farmers' runoff has been a huge stir. The correlation of people swimming at the AP vs public lakes are a far stretch. Both the AP and the lakes need community support, but for very different reasons. In addition to offering a community place, it gives our highschool students the opportunity a job and they begin to learn real responsibility, as well as bringing college students home summer after summer (fueling our local economy). And to those who feel like it's an issue that the AP is not making enough money, perhaps they should pay double. If it was a business fueled by black hearts, we would be paying for parking, extravagent prices on concessions and the 'real' value of swimming lessons. If the AP was indoors, someone would complain there are not enough ice skaters. It's a summer sport.
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mgpmusic
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07-02-09 9:51 AM
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I noticed when I was in Fairmont last summer, nobody swims in the lakes anymore, how sad. The Aquatic Park should have been enclosed, so it could be used all year long.
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