By DAVID CARROLLWhen discussion began on construction of a leisure pool at the Walkup Aquatic Center (WAC), my two daughters were toddlers and my beard was dark-brown. The kids are now in graduate school and a senior in college and my beard is white.
As a facility that from the beginning catered to athletes and competitive swimmers, the WAC has never served the entire Los Alamos community as intended. We used the WAC many times, but in was never appropriate for children/families. The water was too cold, too deep with adults and competitive swimmers the obvious focus.
We made do with the kids running between the main and therapy pools to thaw-out. I can honestly say that we never had a “fun time” at the WAC. It was always an endurance event.
And so County Council – enough!
Please build an appropriate pool where kids and families can relax and enjoy themselves without fear of frostbite. Include the obvious – a wading area and warm, multiple water depths where kids can transition as they learn to swim and have fun with their friends and families. Give the WAC to the adults and competitive swimmers where it has resided since the beginning.
One alleged attribute of the WAC expressed at the beginning and continued with recent quotes in the Post and LA Monitor praises the virtue of attracting out-of-town swim teams because of the pool size and our altitude. I can’t get excited about this lame justification when my tax dollars paid for a facility that serves only a small fraction of the community and ignores our kids and families.
So County Council, as the Nike folks say, “Just Do it!”
