Taking a bath on the pools?
City claims it has no money to fund two pools

Kyle Baldwin holds his nose as he emerges from the water slide at the Gallup Aquatic Center Wednesday. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Cable Hoover

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — Less than five years after opening the Gallup Aquatic Center, Gallup officials are trying to find someone to take it over.

City manager Gerald Herrera said he has sent a letter to the Gallup-McKinley County School District, which partnered up with the city to build the center, to see if the district would be interested in taking over the burden of operating the center.

The reason: city officials say it’s too big a drain on the city budget.

Herrera estimated that the city has to subsidize the operation of the center annually by about $300,000. That’s on top of the $250,000 in subsidies it pays for the operation of Gallup’s other pool — the Harold Runnels swimming pool.

Gallup is unique for a town its size by the fact that it has two indoor swimming pools, and Esco Chavez, former director of recreation for the city, said Gallup residents are fortunate to have this kind of choice, adding that he felt that it’s a quality of life issue.

And while Gallup has two pools, each seems to cater to its own segment of the Gallup population.

The aquatic center seems to attract more teenagers, young adults and families, said Michelle Burrola, director of the pool, while more of the town’s seniors enjoy going to Runnels, which has adult swims as well as time set aside for therapy sessions.

Herrera said that if the school district decided not to take over the operation of the center, the city would consider the possibility of just shutting it down to avoid further subsidies.

Ray Arsenault, superintendent of the Gallup-McKinley County School District, said the letter to the district has been sent to the district’s legal team for an opinion.

He stressed, however, that the district doesn’t have the funds to operate the facility, especially since it would not only have to pay for the current operating loss but the city’s share of the cost to run the facility. Under the current agreement, the school district not only put up a portion of the $7 million cost to constrict the building, but agreed to pay 20 percent of the operating expenses as well.

The district has no problem paying that 20 percent since the school district uses it for the swim teams for the two city high schools. In addition, schools such as Miyamura High and JFK Mid-School use the facility during the school year for gym classes.

The school district’s partnership with the city on this project was not universally supported by all segments of the Gallup population. A advocacy group comprised of Native American activists opposed using federal impact funds to help pay for its construction and advocated that the aquatic center be built outside Gallup so that rural Navajos would have more access to it.

Former Mayor Bob Rosebrough, who fought for and secured community support to pass a bond issue to pay for the city’s cost to construct the building, pointed out that 60 percent of the voters approved the building of the center.

He added that it “continues to puzzle me” that city officials would complain about the subsidies it pays on the two pools as well as other things while at the same time the mayor is still trying to get support from the city council to build an arena or convention center. Feasibility studies on this proposal have also indicated that the city government would have to come up with $500,000 or more a year to keep that going.

Anther issue that has come up time after time for the past several years is whether the city should continue to subsidize Runnels pool.

While there was talk of closing down the Runnels pools when the aquatic center was built, supporters of the Runnels pool were able to keep it open. Herrera also mentioned the fact that the city has spent several hundred thousands dollars in the past few years to repair the facility.

Rosebrough also pointed out that if the city has to chose whether to close the aquatic center or Runnels, city officials should remember that it has a partner — the school district — to help in paying for the cost to run the facility.