Erb Pool: Big investment, big decision
Post-Crescent Editorial Board
There's no question that Appleton's Erb Pool is loved.
But it's leaky. Really leaky. The pools lose 20 percent of water each day.
So there's a big, expensive decision to be made. And the question is whether we want our tax dollars going toward a pool with 50-meter swimming lanes, toward a splash pad with no attached pool or toward a pool that has a little bit of everything.
Families that live in Appleton because of the great lifestyle we have here are craving something more than a traditional Olympic-sized lap-swimming pool. The numbers prove it.
Go to Mead Pool on a hot day, and then go to Erb Pool. The people have spoken.
About 19,600 swimmers used Erb in 2015 while 49,896 used Mead Pool. Mead has a hugely popular zero-depth entry, which slopes like a beach, and a water slide.
So here's the choice that aldermen have to make for the 2016 budget — do taxpayers want to pay $10.1 million for an Olympic-sized pool favored by avid swimmers but not families, or do they want to pay $10.7 million for a pool with shorter swim lanes but the family-friendly zero-depth area?
It seems like the $2.9 million splash pad is off the table because of the backlash, and that's fine.
Let's put the expense in perspective. The city's contribution to the Fox Cities Exhibition Center is just $3.8 million.
If the city is going to spend more than $10 million, the pool that is built in 2017 should be one that attracts the most people. That's likely the option with shorter swimming lanes plus a zero-depth pool, small splash pad and a dual slide.
We give a ton of credit to the swimmers who are passionate about the Olympic-sized pool and for the families who have supported the pool in general.
Now it's time take to a rational approach guided by attendance numbers.