City ponders pool improvements
By Kevin Kelley
Westlake
Published Aug. 1, 2007

City Council last month approved spending up to $15,000 to study making improvements to Peterson Pool, Westlake’s outdoor pool at Clague Park.

Larsen Architects of Lakewood was hired to conduct the study.

At this point, it’s unclear whether the entire pool will be reconstructed or new features will be added.

Members of the Westlake Recreation Commission, Jim Larsen of Larsen Architects, and rec department employees met at a public meeting July 25 to discuss the possibilities.

Officials said that City Council ultimately will decide what will be done and how much money will be spent on the pool, which was built in 1967 and remodeled in 1988.

Recreation Director Mike Rump said that the city does not have any money set aside for any pool projects because they don’t know what the needs are.

The architect’s report is expected by October, Rump said, with the goal of preparing a proposal before council’s annual budget hearings in December.

In order to determine residents’ pool expectations, the Rec Department is currently conducting a survey of Peterson Pool users.

At the July 25 meeting, Nancy Ralls, swim lesson coordinator at Peterson Pool, discussed preliminary results from the survey as well as her own observations of swimmers’ needs.

A main concern Ralls had was the lack of shallow water for learn-to-swim programs. The installation of water slides at the pool several years ago significantly diminished pool space for swimming lessons, she said.

“You can’t put a little kid in four feet of water and tell them to learn to swim,” Ralls said.

Safety regulations required the pool to reserve 35 feet of space for the slides, Rump said.

Ralls also recounted numerous complaints about the restroom facilities at Peterson Pool. There are simply not enough, she said. And the stalls are way too small in the few that do exist.

“You have to straddle the commode to close the door,” she said. “It’s not functional.”

As a result, people stand in line to use the larger handicapped facility, she said.

Responses to the survey also indicated a need for a family changing room, more shade structures for the pool’s lifeguards, a more direct entrance to the pool deck, and splash areas for different age groups.

Don Cisar, Westlake’s aquatics manager, also cited a need for a pool for lap swimming.

Rumps said his department has no preconceived notions of what improvements may be made to the facility.

“That’s the purpose of the study — to find out what people are saying and what people want,” he said.

The pool currently sells season and daily admission passes to both residents and non-residents.

Members discussed if the pool should remain open to non-residents if significant improvements are made to the facility.

Rump said that usage by swimmers outside of Westlake helps the facility to break even financially.

“The revenue from non-residents is a pretty nice number,” he said.

Ralls said she hoped that from a water safety standpoint, at least the learn-to-swim programs remain open to non-residents.

“Kids need to learn how to swim,” she said, noting the region’s proximity to Lake Erie.

Ward 6 Councilwoman Nan Baker said at the meeting that City Council would carefully weigh whether to simply renovate and add to the facility or rebuild it entirely. Council will consider costs while being careful to not throw good money after bad, she said.