STARKVILLE – When associate city engineer Chris Williams started planning revamps for the pool at Moncrief Park, he already knew there were problems.
Parking is limited, some old pipes need replacing and the pool house, which already needed a roof over the dressing rooms, will need additional repairs after a car crashed into part of the building in June.
But further inspection revealed the pool is leaking out 30,000 gallons of water per day it is full, which cost the city an extra $10,000 on its water bill last summer, Williams said.
“(Parks and Recreation) has to keep a pipe rolling all the time to keep it filled up,” he told aldermen during their Friday morning work session.
That brought Williams to present aldermen three options: An expensive repair of the pool that would entirely stop the leak; limping along with cheaper fixes to get the pool through at least one more season; or getting out of the pool business altogether.
Aldermen on Friday seemed to favor limping along at least for one more summer. An upcoming citizen survey may help determine what happens beyond that.
Williams said the pool has a concrete base lined with a fiberglass layer. Water is leaking out between those layers. Removing the fiberglass lining and replacing it with a new shell – what he called a “pool within a pool” – would cost about $400,000. Other needed repairs at Moncrief, including the pool house, would run that bill closer to a half-million.
The cheaper option, he said, would be repairing the fiberglass and painting over it. That would run between $20,000 and $30,000, though there’s no guarantee it will totally stop the leaking.
“If your concrete behind it has cracks, you probably will still have leaks,” he said. “Aesthetically, it will be looking better, but you’ll still have a big water bill.”
Minimum pool house repairs, including a roof over the dressing rooms, would run another $20,000, Williams said.
Parks and Recreation director Brandon Doherty told the board pool usage also is a problem.
Last summer, it averaged 34 swimmers per day, compared to its capacity of 80 swimmers at any given time. Usage also “plummeted,” he said, when Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District started classes in late July – the first year of its modified schedule that spreads school days across more of the year.
It cost $30,000 to operate last summer and brought in only $15,000, mostly from swimming lessons, Doherty added.
“We need to do some target marketing to drive better participation there because I don’t think everybody in town really recognizes we have a pool,” he said. “… But it brings up the issue of: How much are you willing to invest in something that is not being fully maximized?”
Ward 5 Alderman Hamp Beatty, whose ward includes Moncrief Park, agreed marketing could help drive up numbers. But he also believes having a 70-year-old pool with a damaged pool house and no roof over the dressing rooms is keeping people away.
“We haven’t done anything of any significance to enhance people wanting to come to that swimming pool,” he said.
Ward 2 Alderwoman Sandra Sistrunk raised concerns over the city “throwing good money after bad” at the Moncrief Park pool. She also questioned whether the city should get out of the pool business altogether or build a pool at a more appropriate location.
The city has earmarked millions in bond money for park upgrades across the city. Beatty said he isn’t opposed to building a pool at another park, but he believes now is the time to incorporate that into the park plans.
“The time has come for a new swimming pool,” Beatty said. “I would want us to move and be committed to try to find a place for … a new outdoor pool.”
Mayor Lynn Spruill said Moncrief pool needs to be open this summer with deliberate efforts put forth to draw more swimmers. As for the future, she suggested sending a survey to citizens to gauge interest in even having a city-owned swimming pool.
“Let’s market it heavily, and see if we can build interest (this summer),” Spruill said. “… I grew up with a pool in the community, so I believe we should have one. But there are some things that are passe these days, and that may very well be one of them.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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