By Robert Haugh
The legendary George F. Haines International Swim Center (ISC) is now closed for repair. In the City’s announcement, they did not say when it’s expected to reopen.
According to City staff, the age of the facility makes it difficult to maintain and get replacement of mechanic parts.
Here’s what City staff said in a press release:
“The City’s Central Park Master Plan anticipates the need for the design and construction of at least one new 50-meter pool in the next few years in addition to a larger replacement effort, however, the projects are contingent upon significant new funding availability.”
With the ISC closed, the only alternative for Mission City residents is the Warburton Park Pool at 2250 Royal Avenue.
But it’s a much smaller pool.
The pool dimensions are 75 feet x 45 feet. The depth of the shallow end is 3 feet. The depth of the deep end is 10 feet. The small pool is 40 feet x 30 feet. The depth at the edge is 2 feet 6 inches and the depth at the center is 3 feet.
Hello SC News Online Staff,
I am and have been a Santa Clara resident for 57 years.
I wanted to offer my feedback after reading the latest announcement earlier today that the bigger pool will remain closed indefinitely until further notice.
Is it possible to extend the lap pool hours at Warburton?
Budget-wise, it is just an addition of lifeguards.
However, as we all have more flexible schedules these days, I believe extended hours throughout the day and until 8pm could really fulfill the current local demand for pool availability, while the 50 Meter pool is repaired.
Thanks for taking my feedback into consideration.
Yau
Santa Clara Resident
Hello Yau, Try contacting your District Council Member to ask him/her about extending hours at the Warburton pool. Responding to district citizen concerns is an important part of being a Council Member. If you do not know your district, here is a map: https://bit.ly/3ktnXQM and if you do not know your Council Member, here is the listing of Council Members by district: https://bit.ly/3ksUeaw Hopefully your Council Member will respond to your suggestion. (If not, you might consider voting for a different Council Member when his/her seat is up for election.)
I was at the meeting, before COVID, where Parks and Rec approved plans for updating Central Park (here’s the last draft before approval: https://bit.ly/2XCFUU9 – I was there to insist park fields use real plants, such as natural ground covers or low water varieties of grass.) Since that meeting several parts of the plan, such as redoing one or more playgrounds, have been moving forward. However an important part of the plan’s phase 1 effort was to build a new 50 meter pool for immediate use and to close the ISC pool. Eventually there is to be a new set of pools while the space for the old ISC will become an “event field.” See pages 58 and 67-70 in the document. It is weird that the staff statement doesn’t reference the plan.