Pool survey in progress

Are you a patron of the facilities at John Vanderzicht Memorial Pool?

If you are, commissioners from the North Whidbey Park and Recreation District want to hear from you.

For the next three months, a survey is being conducted to determine what the community would like to see in a proposed expansion project.

Earlier this year, a committee was formed to look into the possibility of a future capital expansion project at the existing pool facility.

The committee visited several pools in the greater Seattle area to see what they had to offer. They also determined there is enough space on the property in Oak Harbor for an expansion, should such a project be undertaken.

Commission Chairwoman Sally Dillon said survey forms may be obtained at the pool, as they would like input from people who are currently patronizing the facility.

“We don’t want a survey from everyone, we just want to know what the people who use our pool would like to have,” she said.

Some of the items on the survey include expansions in the aerobics, exercise classes and swim lesson programs, the inclusion of spray/water play features and a Lazy River, which is an exercise feature where a current runs through a particular area of the pool and allows water-walkers to walk against the current.

Suggestions for supporting facilities include a larger gathering room, an enclosed patio for indoor use and a play/babysitting area for kids while adults swim.

Dillon stressed that if an expansion project is undertaken, the current six-lane lap pool would remain unchanged.

“A new pool would be constructed that would be kept at a temperature of at least 85 degrees,” she said. “It would be a multi-use pool just like our current lap pool, but in a much more creative sense.”

Dillon said the results from the survey would be tabulated in April and then the district commissioners might decide to ask for bids for a consultant to come up with a conceptual drawing of the new facility and what the cost estimate would be.

“We don’t estimate the proposal would go to a ballot until 2009,” she said. “Right now, we just want to determine what the community wants.”

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