Swimming Pools and Skate Parks

Originally submitted by: jadelay

The coming of a skate park in the Ann Arbor area for skateboarders and enthusiasts of the board kind is great news. I think the park will be a new community meeting place and will attract a diverse group--as most public recreational places do. At the same time, I am sad about the closing and neglect of public swimming pools in our area, and for that matter concerned about the decline of public swimming pools all over America. Where we live, Memorial Day often signals the opening of summer recreational facilities. We should feel fortunate that we have several opportunities to swim at Veterans' Park and at Fuller Pool, both in Ann Arbor. This opportunity, however, is more difficult in Ypsilanti. For example, the Rutherford Pool, located on N. Congress St., has "earned" a reprieve for a year, because of the generosity of a group of residents who want to save this Ypsilanti icon, where thousands of residents have been swimming over the years. The city was set to close the pool until its operations were taken over a few years ago by a private group called the "Friends of the Rutherford Pool." Is public recreation an ethical issue? Yes it is, in my view. The main ethical issue is fair access. There are many opportunities for people in our area to go swimming...but these opportunities are at private clubs. Many people in our neighborhoods cannot afford to pay to play, whether it is to swim or to skateboard. Public places for play are critical to a community that wants to foster the health of everyone who lives there. Of course, it is also a telling commentary that the people who saved the Rutherford Pool are a private group. I guess that some people might argue that swimming is an old sport and one which is dying, and thus it should not surprise me that while pools crumble, new skate parks are being built. It doesn't have to be that way. Even so, I agree that the swimming community should take note and step back from the water. There are many reasons why our swimming pools are in jeopardy. One in particular is critical for me. The fact is that swimming as an activity also consumes what we increasingly regard as a scarce and precious resource: water. Until the best of our swimmers, and especially the elite swimmers in our communities (and there are many of them who live in the Ann Arbor, given our area's powerhouse of swimming reputation), realize that they need to work for water conservation and other clean water causes, our swimming pools will no longer be open on Memorial Day or on any other day.