By Dennis Box

The Courier-Herald

Talk of the Sumner High School pool being closed has moved from a whisper to open speculation during the past couple of weeks.

A regional park system proposal, which was presented during a Bonney Lake City Council workshop Nov. 16, moved the pool to the front burner.

One part of the proposal includes building a community center and pool funded through the property taxes of residents of Bonney Lake and Sumner area.

Ann Cook, spokeswoman for the Sumner School District, stated the school district's pool needs a new boiler, roof and plumbing.

"These projects haven't been scheduled because of funding," Cook said. "At some point the school board will have to make a determination, but right now they are committed to keep the pool open until another solution can be found."

Rebecca Giles, director of the Sumner/Bonney Lake Recreation Department, stated 90 percent of the pool use comes from the community. The school has one gym class, some limited therapy use for special education classes and after-school sports.

Giles reported 95,000 people use the pool each year.

A 2003 study headed by Associate Superintendent John Thomas pegged a pool renovation at $4.6 million and a complete rebuild at $7 million.

"We just don't use the pool like we used to," Cook said. "It's not an instructional space for a large number of students. There are no easy answers, but the school district is hoping there may be a way."

The notion of building a pool with a regional park system brought some strong reactions from council members.

"I think the Sumner School District is shirking their responsibility on the pool," Councilman Mark Hamilton said. "And I'm a little disgusted with Pierce County. They like to build golf courses, maybe they should start swimming."

Giles countered that the pool serves a recreational need for the region and if it is closed the entire community will feel the loss.

"Interlocal agreements are the best thing going," Giles said. "No single entity has the money."

School Board President Sherman Voiles stated all options are open to the board concerning the pool.

"No plan has been finalized," Voiles said. "All the options are before us. The best possible solution I've seen is the (regional) parks district. But we will continue to talk with Pierce County. The district has been good about finding creative ways to fund things. Right now the board is not discussing the possibility of closing the pool."

The expense of operating and maintaining a pool in lean budget times makes the problem more complex, according to Cook. She stated that Giles lowered the yearly operating cost from a high of $400,000 to about $100,000 through thrifty management, but the cost is still tough for the district to swallow.

"Becky has done a great job," Cook said. "But pools are very expensive."

Dennis Box can be reached at dbox@courierherald.com