SIDE STREETS: Friends of Aquatics searching for cash for closed pools
For the Friends of Aquatics, recent months have been a draining experience.
They frantically tried to raise $250,000 to keep Colorado Springs’ seven public swimming facilities open. But it was too much money in too short a time.
Then, heartbroken, they watched as three pools — Memorial Park, Wilson Ranch and Portal Park — were turned over to a private contractor.
Worse, three other facilities — pools at Monument Valley Park and Valley Hi, as well as the Prospect Lake beach — were simply closed.
The Friends were upset because those pools cater to lower-income kids who will be left with no place to take an inexpensive dip.
It was a small consolation the city kept Cottonwood Creek open for 2010, leaving one city-operated pool. But Cottonwood, near Woodmen Road on the north side, is far from the city’s poor neighborhoods.
End of sad story, right?
Wrong. These are some loyal Friends. They aren’t about to throw in the beach towel. They are still raising $250,000, hoping to keep Cottonwood open in 2011.
And they are still offering to pay for people who want to learn to swim but can’t afford the $45 fee for lessons at Cottonwood.
“We’re still here and trying to help,” said Deb Barry, president of the Friends of Aquatics, a nonprofit that incorporated in 1998. “We’ve still got money to help with swim lessons. People need to know that.”
Typically, about 7,000 kids take lessons from the city and the Friends group subsidizes 1,000 or so, paying anywhere from half to the full price for 10 lessons. They also help pay for recreational swimming for qualifying children and families, along with the host of swim programs for seniors, the handicapped and Junior Lifeguards.
Forms to request financial aid are available at Cottonwood and generally follow federal hot lunch program income guidelines to determine eligibility. You can call Cottonwood for more information at 385-6508.
Raising $250,000 is a huge task for a group that usually raises about $5,000 a year.
But Barry is determined. During its 90-day campaign it managed to collect about $12,000, she said. She’s hoping to build on that momentum as the year goes on.
“There’s a lot of kids who won’t be able to swim this summer,” Barry said. The higher fees charged at private pools will leave poor kids high and dry, she said.
“We’ve got to keep working,” said Barry, who ran the city’s aquatics program for 20 years before retiring in December. “There are no tax dollars involved in this. We’re a nonprofit and we’re hurting for money.”
She’s hoping to tap into the generosity of Springs residents who donated thousands to keep the Julie Penrose fountain flowing in America the Beautiful Park as well as to fund the Uncle Wilber musical water fountain in Acacia Park.
“Our nonprofits need community support,” she said, “now more than ever.”
—
Read my blog updates at
gazette.com/blogs/sidestreets
