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Testing the Waters at Goodman Pool

Posted on: Sunday, 11 June 2006, 09:00 CDT

By Brenda Ingersoll, The Wisconsin State Journal

Jun. 11--Like many other Madison children, Terrence Carey is eager for Monday's 12:30 p.m. opening of the city's first public swimming pool, the $5.28 million Goodman Pool along Olin Avenue.

The Wright Middle School seventh- grader, who learned to swim at age 4, says "it's a place to hang out" with three close friends from the neighborhood. "It's going to be really hot this summer and I'm going to need to swim," Terrence said. "It will just be fun."

The pool, formed of more than 2,200 cubic yards of concrete, will hold 464,000 gallons of water spread over a 16,000-square-foot surface. It will welcome as many as 1,000 swimmers at a time and was designed by Water Technology, a Beaver Dam company with experience with many municipal aquatic centers and resort water park.

From the bike racks out front, to the bathing-suit dryers in the changing rooms, the pool is ready for use.

It offers two waterslides that start out 18 feet up and plunk sliders into 3 feet, 6 inches of water; and an eight- lane lap pool with two diving boards and eight race-diving platforms, where it's 12 feet deep. There are a number of shallow-water play features for young children, and a sand play area. Life jackets are available. There's a battery-operated pool lift to help disabled people in and out of the water and waterproof wheelchairs for use in the pool.

The water is kept clean by a 60- horsepower pump circulating it through two, 8-foot-wide filters at the rate of 2,500 gallons per minute. On its way back to the pool, it is treated with chlorine and heated to between 70 and 82 degrees, said Dean Mueller, Water Technology project manager. Pool operators can select the temperature.

When not in the water, pool users can relax in one of more than 80 chairs and 30 chaise lounges, or gather in one of four waterside shade areas, each with eight or nine picnic tables equipped with umbrellas. The shade areas are protected by large red or green canopies.

Pool-goers will be able to consume bratwursts, hot dogs, slushies, sodas and other food and drink.

"As soon as it's open, I plan on going," said Jazzmin Franks, 14. "If it's a really hot day, I can see going there early in the morning and staying there the whole day. It's going to be like our own mini-Dells. People that live in Madison should welcome the community pool, because you can't really swim in the lakes here, and the little kids are going to really love it, because their parents are going to be able to take their kids there and spend some time away from it all."

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'Absolutely spectacular' The pool is named for retired jewelers Irwin and Robert Goodman, who contributed $2.69 million to build it. The city of Madison kicked in $1.26 million and the rest of the money came from hundreds of private gifts, large and small.

The pool got its first use Saturday, when about 300 children from Madison's neighborhood centers, as well as local dignitaries and members of the pool fundraising committees, attended an invitation-only pool party from 1 to 3 p.m.

Children wearing flip-flops and parents armed with sunscreen and cameras filled the pool deck near the pool's entrance. Although the weather was cool, children needed little encouragement to jump in and enjoy the water.

Donald Studesville, administrative services manager for city parks, said the pool needs to take in $312,000 from swim lessons, pool passes and concessions to cover expenses. "We anticipate making about $370,000, so we'll be roughly $58,000 in the black," he said.

About 350 passes had been purchased by noon Saturday, with more being bought every hour, said parks spokeswoman Laura Whitmore. "We need about 2,000 to break even," she said.

The pool will be used in the mornings by swim teams and for swimming lessons taught by Madison School & Community Recreation staff. Lessons also will be offered from 4:45 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The pool will be open to the public from 12:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday; from 12:30 to 8 p.m. Saturday; and from 12:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Studesville said the pool is a thing of beauty.

"Go to the top of the slide and take a panoramic view," he said. "It's just gorgeous, absolutely spectacular. I couldn't think of a better investment for the children of Madison."

Jeffrey Johnson, 7, said he can swim, "but not at the deep end." He can't wait to try the water slides, and he plans to take swimming lessons so he can use the diving boards.

A lot of children from the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County are revved up to use the pool because a private donor gave the club 80 swimming lesson scholarships and more than 2,000 day passes, said Tiffany Iverson, a program coordinator at the club.

"It's an extremely great opportunity for these kids and this community," she said. "The kids will feel this is their pool and will want to take care of it. They'll be getting safety education and fitness education, and some of our teens will be working there this summer. One will be a lifeguard, and others in concessions. They'll be learning job skills they can use in high school and college."

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Wisconsin State Journal

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Wisconsin State Journal

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