OTHELLO – Voters residing in the City of Othello will have the opportunity to vote on funding to repair the Othello Community Pool. The Othello City Council approved a measure on July 28 to place a $3.55 million bond on the November 4 general election ballot. If approved, the funding will be used to repair the Othello Community Pool with a hopeful opening date next summer. Only voters residing in the Othello City Limits will vote.
Earlier in 2025, the city hired NAC Architecture to conduct a feasibility study for options to repair or replace the pool. NAC determined that the site soil is suitable for rebuilding, that the Myrtha pool requires significant repairs, that the pool mechanical system requires complete refurbishment, and that the existing buildings are in good condition. Most significantly, investigation and testing of the pipe system found that damaged pipes can be repaired, but that a complete replacement of the system was the best course of action.
The city formed an Aquatic Task Force to study the NAC feasibility study findings and to make recommendations to the city council for a path forward. The task force narrowed their recommendations down to four options, which local residents voted on in a Fourth of July event survey and a separate online survey. Those options included:
- A new facility to operate year-round with indoor and outdoor pools. Expanding the existing pool to 8 lanes, and constructing an indoor pool and community room ($14.5 million estimate).
- A new facility to operate year-round with a completely new outdoor pool and an indoor facility with a pool and community room ($22.1 million estimate).
- Repairing the existing pool and buildings ($3.5 million estimate).
- An all-new outdoor pool and renovation of the existing buildings ($14.5 million estimate).
Options presented to the Othello City Council. Click each to view them in a larger size.
The survey results were as follows:
4th of July Event:
- 129 votes (67%) for an all-new facility with indoor and outdoor pools.
- 43 votes (22%) for renovation and addition to the existing facility, including a new indoor pool.
- 20 votes (11%) to refurbish the existing pool and buildings.
- 0 votes (0%) to refurbish existing buildings but build an all-new pool.
- 2nd water slide won the most votes for new aquatic feature.
Online Survey:
- 73% voted for all-new facility.
- 7% voted for fixing the existing pool as soon as possible.
Council members and residents giving public comment at the board meeting were skeptical of the higher cost options, even though they proved most popular in the surveys, citing concerns that voters would not approve such large debt amounts. In the end, they chose the option that would get the pool open most quickly, in the summer of 2026. This option includes replacing all of the pipe infrastructure. Another option included just repairing the damaged sections of pipe. Chris Dorrow, chair of the task force, cautioned that choosing that option could expose the city to liabilities down the road.
The council agreed with Dorrow. “What concerns me is if we spend the $2.2 million, and we’re going to have old pipes in there,” said Angel Garza. The city knows “those pipes were not laid out right. So are we going to spend $2.2 million and leave those old pipes in there?”
Council member Darryl Barnes echoed Garza. ” If we’re going to be good stewards of tax dollars, it would be wise, while the pool is drained, to replace all the piping so we can get another 20-30 years out of it. It makes no sense to do a patch job,” he said.
The city closed the Community Pool “indefinitely” in April 2024 due to safety concerns. Former public works director Curt Carpenter said at the time that the pool’s pipes had been leaking since it was built in 2007. Over time, the problem worsened until it became unsafe to operate the pool. Carpenter said that the first year the pool was in operation, it used 1.5 million gallons of water. In 2021, the pool used 5.5 million gallons. But in 2023, the pool consumed more than 35 million gallons due to failed infrastructure.
