It’s open air for the summer, but a fabric dome can be deployed in cooler seasons
The long-anticipated Lopez Swim Center will open its doors at 70 Pool Lane on July 1, just in time for Independence Day.
“The pool is completed and it’s beautiful,” said Bill LeDrew, executive director of the Swim Center. “We’re very happy with the way it’s turned out. And people are excited, very excited.”
Open year-round, the Swim Center will offer exercise classes, physical therapy, lap swimming, movie nights, patio space for gatherings and more.
According to Friends of Lopez Island Pool, it’s anything “but a big hole in the ground.” Electric pumps heat the pool instead of propane, regenerative filters conserve water while keeping it clean and its durable steel frame requires less maintenance than concrete.
The pool will remain open-air for the summer with a heated Mylar, polyester fabric “Arizon” dome inflated in the cool seasons.
“We’ve done our best to be environmentally sensitive, financially responsible and produce what I think is a beautiful facility,” LeDrew said.
Originally set to open last year, the road to the pool was long and winding.
“None of us have built a pool before, and it’s a very complicated facility in terms of the operation of the pools, the electrical requirements, everything has to be grounded and bonded,” LeDrew said. “And it’s just taken a lot of time. There have been some delays with permitting, but frankly, I don’t fault the county or the state. They really have been helpful.”
The idea for the pool first came in the 1980s, LeDrew said, but it lay dormant for decades. In the late 2000s, Friends of Lopez Island Pool formed and conducted a feasibility study. Coming off the 2008 financial crisis, Friends decided then was not the time to ask the community for funds.
In 2017, the nonprofit began seriously fundraising, which ultimately resulted in over $2 million from grants and an additional 1,300 community donors, of which 70% had Lopez addresses. Total funds raised exceeded $10 million.
Once open, most funding will come from memberships, LeDrew said.
“In our long-term budget, we realized the first year or so we’d be lucky to break even, so we’ve built a cushion that we can make sure that we’re viable through the first year, and by the end of the second year we expect to be in the black,” he said. “But all that’s part of our funding strategy, and we’re pretty confident. We’ll see how the costs go, but our budget is pretty comforting for sure.”
Not everyone on the island is convinced, though LeDrew describes them as a “small minority.”
In 2022, David Bill led an informal seven-person opposition group of farmers, environmentalists and scientists calling to question financial sustainability, environmental impact and cultural changes to the island.
“I’m sort of an old islander. People went swimming in ponds,” Bill said in an interview. “We didn’t live in Bellevue. If we wanted to live in Bellevue, we would have stayed in Bellevue.”
Safety was a huge driver for the pool, LeDrew said. In 2016, Friends of Lopez Island Pool took elementary school kids to the Fidalgo Pool, and only 8% could swim across and back. Living on an island surrounded by water, this became a priority of the nonprofit. Friends will incorporate a physical education program for elementary school kids as well as swimming lessons.
According to LeDrew, much of the concern about environmental sustainability has been mitigated by the electric heat pumps and using a steel structure for the pool as opposed to concrete.
However, the deck of the facility is concrete, and Bill remains unconvinced.
“I don’t think covering it in a big plastic dome is like a big environmental statement of sustainability,” he said.
Annual maintenance costs have risen since the initial projections, and Bill fears that may come with an unpopular levy ask down the road. Earlier this year, the Lopez Parks and Recreation levy failed, with many feeling that a new tax of $.37 per $1,000 assessed property value was too high.
Recent efforts to build aquatic centers in Port Townsend and Bellevue also failed due to cost.
LeDrew said pool visitors from outside the island will help with the financial sustainability issue.
“Is that what Lopez really wants is a bunch of short-term people coming in to go to the pool?” Bill asked. “I’m not sure that’s going to be a big winner.”
According to LeDrew, the benefits outweigh the costs.
“I don’t criticize people for raising questions,” he said. “It was fair debate, but we were always transparent and listened to them and adapted when we could or explained our situation. And we think the community’s decision is to support this pool.”
The Swim Center will be open Wednesdays through Sundays, 8 a.m.-12 p.m. and 2 p.m.-6 p.m. The center offers annual, seasonal, monthly, weekly and daily rates that differ for households, seniors, adults and youth. Monthly rates range from $164 for a household of two to $65 dollars for ages 20 and under. LeDrew said about 150 islanders pre-registered for membership before the pool opened.
“It’s been an effort by a number of volunteers over the years and people have put their heart and soul into this and to do it, not for the sake of doing it, but people are doing it for the community,” LeDrew said, “and it’s rewarding to see the level of positive reaction we’re getting from the community.”
—By Sam Fletcher