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Swimming Pool in Los Angeles/Swimming
for Health - A City of Los Angeles Pool Replacement and Management
Program
During a recent annoucement on funding for
rebuilding closed pools at Northridge, Lanark, and Harvard
parks, the Mayor also announced the establishment of a Task
Force to examine the state of the City's pools and to develop
a pool program that integrates plans for maintenance, major
repairs, replacements, and citing and building of new additional
pools, with strategic funding concepts.
The first step in this important initiative
is a thorough inventory of existing pools, their current use
and programming, and known physical repair or replacement
needs, building on the initial information in the 2003 Infrastructure
Report. The attached Quick Looks (by Council District) and
Condition Reports (by pool) begin that inventory and analysis
process. Recreation and Parks, as managers of the City's system
of pools, has undertaken this task, and is consulting with
the Bureau of Engineering (BOE) for additional review of our
renovation and repair suggestions, and information on pool
replacement issues. From this study, current figures on the
possible price tag of a comprehensive pool program can be
verified.
Another major subject area for the Task Force
will be enhancement of operating budgets for maintenance and
for a pool component replacement program. For example, the
budgeted funds for chlorine have increased between the 1993-1994
and 2003-2004 fiscal years only by a little over $200,000,
or about 43%--while the cost of chlorine itself on City contract
has risen from $0.56 to $1.10, a 100% increase. This situation
is further problematic because the large number of leaking
pools require more chlorine replacement than pools which are
not leaking. Circulating, chemical, and backwash pump replacements
are another readily foreseeable maintenance need, and in fact
the Department has a replacement plan, based on a typical
five-year (recommended) life-cycle, of 12 circulating pumps
(at $12,000 each), 24 chemical feed pumps (at $2,500 each),
and up to 26 backwash pumps (average $1,000 each) replaced
new annually, for a total recommended budget of $230,000 a
year (2004 prices). Except for a few exception years in which
the Department received small influxes of pool repair funds,
the Department has not received regular pump replacement program
funds in well over a decade.
Composition of the Task Force will need to
be discussed further, but should include BOE along with Mayor
and Council representation, the CLA and CAO, and community
representation; this can be drawn from Park Advisory Boards,
Neighborhood Councils, and aquatic or athletic organizations,
such as the Amateur Athletic Foundation, which supports Recreation
and Parks with annual swimming program grants.
The Task Force, once convened, will need
to define in detail the objectives of their effort, but which
must encompass an analysis of funding possibilities and steps
to acquire sufficient funds for the task ahead. A methodology
for informing communities about options in aquatic facilities,
and in processing meaningful public participation in types
and locations of pools, will need to be developed.
The current overlay of pool locations throughout
the City is shown on the following page. The options for new,
renovated, or replacement pools, include:
- Regional Aquatic Centers ($6 million or more each):
Includes a variety of features such as a traditional deep
pool, shallow pool, slides, fountains, water play features,
zero depth (beach-like) entrance, wading pool, and splash
pad.
- Community Aquatic Centers ($4 million or more
each): Includes a feature such as a deep or a shallow
pool, slides or splash pad.
- Small Neighborhood Pools, Splash Pads, and Portable
Pools ($500,000 to $3 million or more): Includes
smaller water features that are specifically designed to
meet the needs of a neighborhood. Portable pools may be
used in areas where a pool is closed or under construction
or the community does not have a pool. These can be dismantled
and moved from site to site, depending on where temporary
pools are most needed; as currently designed, these temporary
pools would be used primarily for swim lessons.
Recreation and Parks is ready to take the
lead in continuing the work performed so far and participating
in the Task Force.
Map of the
City showing distribution of existing pool locations.
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