By Ken Lass
Let me take you back to a simpler time. The year was 1954. The president of the United States was Dwight D. Eisenhower. A gallon of gas cost 29 cents. The most popular song was “Little Things Mean Alot” by Kitty Kallen. Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” was the most popular movie. The fashion rage for women was pastel-colored dresses with cinched waists that went down to mid-calf. The most popular TV show was I Love Lucy.
And in the small town of Trussville, Alabama, population approximately 3,000 people, the new city swimming pool opened on Parkway Drive, right next to what was then Trussville High School. It quickly became the highlight and focal point of the historic project area. A cool, refreshing respite for pick-up softball players, playground children and picnickers. Since then, at least five generations of Trussville’s people have flocked to the pool, beginning with the baby boomers, and spanning through generations X, Y, Z and Alpha.
Eventually, a splash pad was added, believed to be the first municipally owned of its kind in the state. Yes, long before there was an entertainment district, a shopping mall, a movie theater, a myriad of active churches, a roller skating rink, a sports park, a YMCA, or even a McDonald’s, the Trussville city pool was the center of the community, a haven for young moms and their small children, a source of summer jobs for countless lifeguards, a meeting place for hard working families and neighbors on their days off. The traditions and the memories have been washing across the water and bouncing off the concrete walls for 72 years.
Memories die hard. Especially the good ones. How else to explain the immediate and emphatic reaction when Mayor Ben Short revealed earlier this summer the city pool and splash pad would close for good at the end of the current season. It’s hard to fault the decision. No longer the center of the community, there were only about 250 members this summer, the facility has become a $69,000 annual money pit. That’s how much the city loses, on average, operating the pool each year, according to the mayor. Now the facility has sprung another leak, and estimates peg the cost of repair at around $700 thousand.
And the mayor says there are environmental issues. He says the leaks are pushing chlorinated water into the ground table. He has been reported to claim the pool loses more water than the 180 homes around it combined.
If all of this is true, and there’s no reason to think it’s not, then the time has come for the site to evolve. And in fact, that process has already begun. A landscape architect is working on designs and concepts for the property. Reportedly, those will be ready for city council perusal by October.
In the meantime, the greater public interest would be served if the troubled facility is shut down. It just doesn’t make sense to keep pouring massive public funds into a project that is beyond meaningful reclamation. And let’s be honest. While the pool has breakdown problems, the splash pad is a bit of an embarrassment for a city as progressive and actively growing as Trussville. One need only look at nearby towns such as Moody and Springville, communities far smaller than Trussville, to see what a modern and functional splash pad looks like. Trussville residents, now nearly thirty thousand strong, deserve better.
On August 16 nostalgic pool goers called the community together for one final gathering, as if to express a proper goodbye to an old friend. They called it the “Last Splash Bash”. Admission was one memory of an experience at the landmark. Sad for sure, but maybe it would help to keep in mind closing the pool doesn’t have to be the end of the memories. More like a pause. Mayor Short has made it clear he favors building a brand new pool and splash pad. Of course, the issue, as with all projects, is money. Short says the city council has to vote to fund such an effort. That should not be a problem. I’m guessing council members are already feeling the public pressure to approve such funding. If they aren’t, they’re not paying attention. One councilman has already stated a new pool should be a priority. Good call. I wouldn’t want to face a re-election campaign being accused of opposing a beloved institution like the city pool.
Some supporters of the present facility question why the hurry to shut it down? Why not keep it going until a new one is ready to take its place? In a perfect world, that would be the ideal solution. But any public office holder would be quick to point out money doesn’t fall from the sky. Finding cash for municipal improvements is, by far, the most daunting challenge any governing body faces. Finding enough money to build a new pool and splash pad, while continuing to pour financial resources into repairing and maintaining the current one, would lengthen the replacement timeline considerably. Much smarter to seed a new project with the money saved by discontinuing the old one.
Which puts the ball squarely into the city council’s court. Trussville needs, deserves, and clearly wants a city pool and splash pad it can be proud of. Pool supporters must be diligent in making sure the promised savings are directed toward the new undertaking. When it comes budget time, no doubt there will be many needs vying for precious taxpayer dollars. There never seems to be enough for education, first responders, and infrastructure. But a vibrant, functional municipal pool and splash pad are major contributors to quality of life.
Old memories and traditions don’t have to die. They just need an upgrade to stay afloat.
