JCC Board Sinks City Swimming Pool Partnership

It's back to square one for building a new public pool for .

Exploring options to replace the with the city since last October, (JCC) Executive Director Judy Neuman informed city officials earlier this month that the JCC had decided to focus on other priorites. The decision came after a June JCC Board of Directors meeting determined an ambitious investment in the pool might overwhelm other planned improvements and programming.

"We have a mission and a vision for the JCC and we have a lot of things on our plate. There are other things that we're farther down the road on," Neuman said.

"The amount of fundraising it would require is considerable. The timing is off for us."

The city is looking for ways to keep a public pool open with the — who actually owns and operates the Mary Wayte Pool through Olympic Cascade Aquatics — which keeps the pool open for another 3-5 years. An official familiar with the discussion estimated the cost of building another pool at $8 million.

Speaking at a City Council planning meeting June 18, City Manager Rich Conrad said an ad-hoc committee appointed by Mayor Jim Pearman was prepared to hire a pool consultant at a cost of $30,000-$50,000 to draft plans for the pool when they were informed of the decision. Pool committee and JCC member Debbie Bertlin — — said she wasn't surprised by the decision.

"There were physical elements to the discussion, decisions to be made on programming. It finally became a policy decision for them," she said. "They never said no — just not now."

City Council decided to explore working several other site options: Return to the Mercer Island School District and work to rebuild Mary Wayte Pool in its current location, build a new pool in by replacing the existing tennis courts, or build a new pool at the old . The was also briefly discussed as a possibility but isn't currently being considered.

City Hall and the Stroum Jewish Community Center have been working together since last October in talks to design an enlarged pool at the JCC in a public-private partnership. The JCC currently operates a 25-yard long, six-lane pool that is available for use by members. An adult membership, which includes the use of gym equipment and other indoor athletics facilities, currently costs an adult $60 per month and youth ages 13-29 $29 per month.