Othello needs a publicly accessible community pool. That’s not even a topic that should be open for debate. Before its indefinite closure, the Othello Community Pool received thousands of visitors every summer. It provided a respite from sweltering summer heat, hours of endless fun, hosted private parties, and gave our local youth swim team a home for practices and meets. The pool was well-used and well-loved. Outdoor pool facilities are thriving in nearby communities.
The closure of the pool in 2024 left a hole in the summer social fabric of Othello and the surrounding area. It’s reasonable to assume that the closure was avoidable. Improperly installed plumbing doomed the pool before it even opened.
The pool leaked water every year since it first opened. The city knew it leaked. In the first year, the pool used 1.5 million gallons. In 2021, after being closed for a year due to COVID, the pool used 5.5 million gallons. In its final year of operation, the pool used a mind-blowing 35 million gallons of water. That amount of wasted water in a desert community that barely receives 8 inches of rain a year is a travesty. The failure was a known problem that the city could and should have addressed years before it became a safety issue.
But the failure happened, and since 2024, the city has studied options for bringing aquatic fun back to Othello. Earlier this year, the city council hired NAC Architecture to perform a feasibility study. That study found that the pool site is suitable for reconstruction, repair, or an entirely new facility.
A city-formed Aquatic Task Force that worked with NAC to develop options including repair, replacement, and expansion of the pool. Those options ranged in cost from $2.2 million for a quick repair that only addressed the failed sections of plumbing to a $22 million option that would completely redesign the outdoor pool, add an indoor facility with a community center, and add other new features. For comparison, a new elementary school for 500 students would cost approximately $26 million.
The options were put out for a vote in an online survey and at the city’s Fourth of July celebrations. Perhaps not surprisingly, the biggest and fanciest option proved to be most popular with voters.
But the survey and voting weren’t conducted scientifically. We participated in the Fourth of July vote, and the bigger option seemed great on paper. Fancy shiny things look attractive when you don’t have the full information. We’d get an indoor facility to use all year, a community space for events, and a brand-new outdoor pool for the summer. Seems great. However, I don’t recall any of the questions asking about whether families would be willing to pay the usage fees associated with these projects. Technically, the city couldn’t outright ask what voters would be willing to pay in taxes. Doing so would potentially be a Public Disclosure Commission violation.
The outdoor pool was already a money-losing venture for the city. A larger, fancier facility would only make those losses bigger. How would the facility be staffed all year when it currently relies on high school students to operate? How much higher would operating costs be when air conditioning, more water heating, and more staff are required? Would our local families be able to afford to use it?
Our family loved the pool. We were there daily and paid for the family seasonal pass. Othello isn’t exactly a desert oasis of high-wage jobs. A large percentage of our local families live below the poverty line. Council members addressed this in their debates. Most local families weren’t using the pool regularly. Many could not afford to. This is an issue that higher fees would only exacerbate.
In the end, the council had a lively debate. All of the public comments given at the July 28th council meeting were in favor of a cheaper option that was cognizant of a fee-adverse population who already feels overtaxed. Modifications were made to the recommendation to replace all of the plumbing and make other needed repairs to the pool in the hope of reopening it for summer 2026.
The council voted unanimously to place a $3.55 million bond on the November 4 general election ballot. Voters will decide the fate of the community pool. There are other options. Should the bond fail, the city could use councilmanic bonds, which tend to be more expensive, but don’t require voter approval.
We fully support the option chosen by the council. It showed restraint, reasoning, and awareness of our community dynamics. It gets the pool opened faster. It addresses the improper original construction, and it doesn’t leave taxpayers on the hook for massive tax increases to build a facility that will never financially support itself in a community this size. Perhaps that is a discussion for the future, with more growth in and around the city. The unscientific surveying and low participation do not reveal the true picture of what our community will support.
We’re skeptical of the timeline. The city has a history of over-promising and under-delivering on aquatic features. Case in point: The long-promised splash pad at Kiwanis Park that we were told would open this summer. That project is delayed pending approval from the state Department of Health, an issue beyond the city’s control.
We’re excited to see aquatic fun return to Othello! But we’d also like to see some visionary action to make the pool more accessible to families of limited financial means. Hopefully, the city will be able to pursue grants or other funding sources that can provide assistance to low-income families who would like to enjoy some cool water on a hot summer day.
The best choice for Othello’s pool will be on the November 4th ballot, and we encourage voters to support it enthusiastically.
