SOU pool closes despite community support
For Immediate Release July 3, 2007
SOU pool closes despite community support
The Aquatics Foundation of Southern Oregon expresses our thanks and great appreciation to the dedicated aquatic athletes, parents, coaches, volunteers, and business and community advocates who continue to support our mission.
Our immediate goal continues to be raising funds and awareness of the imminent closure of the aquatics complex at Southern Oregon University. Faced with budget cuts, SOU deemed the aquatics facility expendable. This closure effectively eliminates competitive high school swimming and water polo programs across the valley. The domino affect undermines regional athletic districts including Eugene, North Bend, and Klamath Falls. Young athletes from Eagle Point, Crater, North and South Medford, Ashland and Phoenix High Schools as well as the Rogue Valley Masters, Southern Oregon Water Polo, Rogue Valley Water Polo, hundreds of swimmers from Superior Stingrays among other regional teams, and recreational swimmers no longer have access to this long-standing and vital facility.
As an alternative to pool closure, SOU offered to keep the aquatics facility open if the community would provide funding for the $87,000 annual operating costs plus an additional $25,000 emergency fund by June 30th. Funding excess of 100 percent of pool operations is a challenge.
With your overwhelming energy and generosity, we have over $19,000 on deposit and $35,000 of guaranteed user fees. In addition, many private citizens and service groups have offered challenge monies and promised donations of $10,000, if the pool stays open.
$64,000 is an amazing accomplishment. However, the facility doors are now locked. Dr. Cullinan and her staff assure us that they are taking no actions that would prevent the pool from reopening, should we give them the $112,000 they require.
For decades, this regional pool has played a crucial role in Southern Oregon aquatics. It remains the only pool capable of hosting sanctioned swim meets and water polo tournaments. These events draw hundred of athletes and their families to the area. Moreover, with them comes thousands of dollars to the local economy.
The pool is an asset to the community; costs little to operate, $750,000 to refurbish and millions to replace. Jan Ritter perhaps said it best in his Letter to the Editor: “The university has an asset that the community needs, in fact is essential, to maintain even a minimal level of aquatics sport in this region. It is an appalling waste of resources to see it closed and potentially destroyed.”
AFSO will continue to further aquatics goals working with interested parties, private and public, throughout the region. The aquatics programs are flourishing. We are meeting with alumni and administration in July to discuss the aquatics complex's future. Until we have no more options, we will continue to apply for grants, meet with business and community groups, and raise monies and awareness in pursuit of our mission, raising funds and promote the health, safety and fun of aquatics in this region even in the face of this major loss of support.
Check our website at SouthernOregonSwim.org for updates on our continued progress.
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