No date is certain, but closed since Feb. 23, the Carole Ann Wald Memorial Pool in St. Edward State Park will be reopening its doors sometime in the near future, said Troy Emmons, executive director of West Coast Aquatics.
Based in Mill Creek, Emmons said West Coast officials inked a deal with the state to take over the Kenmore pool April 29.
“We’re a little up in the air right now,” Emmons said regarding an exact date for the pool to reopen, adding the reason was some ongoing repairs the state is undertaking at the facility.
According to Emmons, state workers are waiting on a part needed to repair a heat exchange unit and that may be all that stands in the way of at least setting a date to once again throw open the pool doors.
“The state’s done a lot of work on both buildings,” said Emmons, referring to both the pool and the Wald gymnasium.
Emmons talked about the state fixing the pool’s heating system and the building’s condensation system, as well as power washing both facilities. Workers even replaced 61 light bulbs, Emmons said.
As for the details of the contract between West Coast and the state, Emmons said his organization will be receiving no further monetary support for the pool from the state. He said West Coast has received a commitment of aid from Bastyr University and officials are talking with leaders in Kenmore about some further financial support. Emmons added his group eventually intends to make contact with Evergreen Hospital, as well. The latter uses the pool for physical-therapy classes.
Like the previous operators, West Coast will be charging admission to the pool, as well as collecting fees for various classes and programs.
West Coast is a certified nonprofit that operates the Mill Creek Swim Club, a pool that is open to the public in that city.
Puget Sound regional director for the state parks commission, Don Hoch declined to offer any further details on the deal with West Coast. Both he and Emmons said the state intended, at some point, to make a formal announcement through a press release. Hoch did offer the news that neither St. Edward nor any other state park will be mothballed, a plan that had been floated as a possible cost-saving measure.
Once again, Hoch did not offer details. However, state legislators approved a plan that potentially could generate $28 million in revenue for the park system.
Currently, when buying license tabs for vehicles, state drivers are offered a chance to donate $5 to the parks system. Modeled after a program in Montana, Washington legislators proposed making the donation automatic unless a driver specifically checks a box opting out of that donation.
The thought behind the change seems to be that many drivers won’t bother to check the box, thus increasing donations to a predicted 50 percent of Washington’s drivers.
