What happens next?
If approved by voters, the bond would have funded the replacement of the current six-lane Clark Henry Pool and children’s pool with a six- to eight-lane lap pool and a recreation pool with play features, a shallow zero-depth area and a waterslide tower.
City Council had already approved about $60,000 for demolishing the pool as part of the fiscal year 2024-25 budget—which was approved Aug. 19—City Manager Austin Bleess said Nov. 19. The demolition proposal would still need to come before City Council for approval, Mayor Bobby Warren said.
More details
City staff and citizen volunteers have already dedicated time over the last two years to come up with a solution for the pool, council member Drew Wasson said.
“I am ... open to anyone ... who has an idea of a cost and a timeline and a plan before we decide in December or January to demolish the current pool ... because obviously a bond’s not working,” Wasson said.
Repairing the current city pool would cost around $800,000, but those repairs would last only about five years, Warren said.
“When we're discussing this ... it has to be on the basis of information that's been provided to us from people who are knowledgeable in the field, not people who walk by a pool and say, 'It looks good to me.' ... That's not the way you actually plan for infrastructure,” Warren said. “So we've got to do a better job as a council, I think, in communicating all the issues so that everyone understands exactly what's at stake.”
The results are in
On Nov. 19, City Council unanimously canvassed the results of the Nov. 5 election. The final totals regarding the pool bond were:
- 2,196 total votes against
- 1,622 total votes in favor
Clark Henry Pool was built 49 years ago in 1975 and has exceeded the average 30- to 40-year lifespan, as previously reported by Community Impact.
Atirikta Kumar and Danica Lloyd contributed to this report.
