The Peoria Park District and Peoria Public Schools are weighing options about what to do with the decades-old Central Park Pool.
The two boards held a joint meeting Thursday to discuss the possibilities, a little more than two weeks ahead of a looming deadline for a decision.
“That is why I wanted us to meet as a whole, so everybody — both the park district board and the Peoria Board of Education — we’d all be on the same page, we’d all know all the history and everything that was involved,” said parks board president Robert Johnson.
Park District Executive Director Emily Cahill told the boards the pool needs about $1 million in repairs.
“That does not include any operating costs. It also does not really include any long-term needs of the facility, beyond just those very basic needs to keep the pool operational,” she said.
Tucked into the Peoria High School campus, the Central Park Pool started operations in 1968 through a joint agreement between the park district and Peoria Public Schools. Each entity owns a portion of the divided property.
Since 2014, the Peoria Area Water Wizards [PAWW] operated the pool privately, following District 150’s decision to terminate an agreement where it paid the park district $25,000 per year to use the pool.
Earlier this month, PAWW announced it would vacate the facility after its lease expires on Sept. 15. The park district board likely will need to finalize a decision at its Sept. 16 meeting; the school board is expected to discuss the issue at its Sept. 8 meeting.
The first option outlined by Cahill would be for District 150 to acquire full ownership of the building and land, and assume responsibility for the needed repairs.
“I think we can say we are leaning towards option one, we just have not solidified it,” said school board vice president Paris McConnell.
“I think it's safe for us to at least say that we're leaning and we're going to work with our legal team and follow through for the interest in the interest of time, because we're two weeks out.”
Other options would be for both parties to sell the pool to a private entity, or to close the facility and demolish the building.
“Under all of these scenarios, it is important to note that the Peoria Park District will continue to support community swim lesson needs at its RiverPlex, Gwynn Family Aquatic Center, and Proctor Recreation Center Locations,” said Cahill. “Peoria Public Schools 150 will continue to support their student needs at the Manual and Richwoods pools.”
Aaron Points, the swim coach at the Peoria YMCA, discussed the potential for assuming private ownership and daily maintenance of the eight-lane pool, perhaps through a non-profit organization.
“It's kind of dear to my heart to continue to see a competitive pool in the area of this nature,” said Points. “It is just one of the finest pools that we have in kind of Central Illinois, so I was hoping to be able to see the longevity of that pool.”
