ROSAMOND POOL RE-OPENS TODAY.Byline: JIM Jim Miss Watson’s runaway slave; Huck’s traveling companion. [Am. Lit.: Huckleberry Finn] See : Escape SKEEN Staff Writer ROSAMOND -- Four years after it was closed because of a lack of funding, Rosamond will once again have a community swimming pool. In a ceremony scheduled for 10 a.m. today, the community pool at 2235 40th Street West will be re-opened. The event will include a water carnival from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. that will include relay races relay race Race between teams in which each team member successively covers a specified portion of the course. In track events, such as the 4 × 100-m and 4 × 400-m relays, the runner finishing one leg passes a baton to the next runner while both are running within , a hula hoop Hula Hoop Noun trademark a plastic hoop swung round the body by wiggling the hips contest, water volleyball games; a lifesaving exhibition at 3 p.m., and open swim from 3:15 to 6 p.m. The pool will be open through the Labor Day Labor Day, holiday celebrated in the United States and Canada on the first Monday in September to honor the laborer. It was inaugurated by the Knights of Labor in 1882 and made a national holiday by the U.S. Congress in 1894. holiday, Sept. 3. For now, the pool will only be open for the summer months, said Robert Neufeld, general manager for the Rosamond Community Services District, which operates the pool. "Eventually, we want to get an enclosure for the pool so we can operate it year-round," Neufeld said. The community has been without a swimming pool since 2003, when the county government closed it because of a lack of funding. The pool was filled with sand and then capped with asphalt. Ever since then, the cry has been "what about the pool," said Dennis Shoffner, chairman of the Rosamond Municipal Advisory Council, an advisory body to the Kern County government. "When it got taken away, it was like cutting our hearts out," Shoffner said. "Now that's it's back, it's a huge boost." The Rosamond Community Services District, which provides water and sewer services for the community, took possession of the pool from the county this spring. The district spent about $200,000 to unseal the pool, rehabilitate re·ha·bil·i·tate v. 1. To restore to good health or useful life, as through therapy and education. 2. To restore to good condition, operation, or capacity. it and fix the surrounding decking, Neufeld said. The pool was built as one of the amenities of the Kaufman and Board Westpark development in the early 1990s. Kaufman and Board subsidized sub·si·dize tr.v. sub·si·dized, sub·si·diz·ing, sub·si·diz·es 1. To assist or support with a subsidy. 2. To secure the assistance of by granting a subsidy. the pool's operation until 2001. The county covered the pool's operating costs operating costs npl → gastos mpl operacionales in 2002, but was forced to mothball moth·ball n. 1. A marble-sized ball, originally of camphor but now of naphthalene, stored with clothes to repel moths. 2. mothballs a. it in 2003 when a bid to put an assessment on the ballot to cover the pool's costs died. In a survey conducted in late 2005, re-opening the pool was the number one parks and recreation priority for Rosamond residents. Voters, however, have twice rejected tax measures to fund parks and recreation services. To begin parks and recreation services, the district is using a $500,000 loan from its general-fund reserves. Developer fees, grants and program fees will also be used to help finance services. "We need to be able to prove to the community we can do something like this," Neufeld said. "We need to have a success story we can point to." james.skeen@dailynews (661) 267-5743 |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion