The Gowrie Swimming Pool:

The Writing is on the Crumbling Gutter Walls!
 

                Gowrie’s swimming pool is nearing its end.  For over four decades the City of Gowrie has enjoyed its outdoor municipal swimming pool and facility.  Over time, maintenance efforts and ongoing repairs by the City have allowed this facility to continue to serve as an amenity to the citizens of Gowrie and neighboring communities.  Nonetheless, as the facility has aged, it has been unable to keep pace with changing industry standards.  Current health and building codes draw attention to the deficiencies of such a facility.

            As aquatic facilities age, annual repair costs continue to increase.  Within the past couple of years the Gowrie Swimming Pool has been deteriorating rapidly.  Gutters are crumbling and falling off, concrete is weakening, the filtration system is in desperate need of repair and the bathhouse requires much updating as well.

            The Gowrie Pool Fundraising Campaign has been started to ensure that the Gowrie Swimming Pool is both open and operational for the use of area residents for years to come.  The Gowrie City Council and Pool Board have commissioned the professional architects of Larkin Aquatics to create a building plan best suited for our community.  The proposed plan involves renovating the current pool to make it handicap accessible, clean and safe, as well offering some up-to-date amenities for added enjoyment for the pool users.

            As you can imagine, renovating the pool in such a way is a very expensive undertaking.  An early estimate puts the cost in the range of $1,000,000!!  That is an awful lot of money.  But we are confident that with the support of Gowrie residents, past and present, we will be able to raise those funds.  Our confidence comes from the fact that many, many people recognize the vital importance of the swimming pool to the life of the community.

            From the day it opened, the pool has been the place for kids, teens and adults to go during the summer months for a cooling swim on a hot afternoon or evening.   Young people from the community and elsewhere have taken advantage of the Red Cross swimming lessons offered every summer at the pool.  It is also the source of several summer jobs for students every year.

            Even those who have never dipped a toe in the pool benefit from it as it is a vital community asset that makes Gowrie a preferred community in which to live, and therefore increases the value of all properties.  Listing a swimming pool as one of Gowrie’s major recreation facilities says this is a progressive town and one that makes it a great home for today’s residents and for future home buyers.

            A major component of our fundraising will be the financial support we receive from individuals.  We are looking to you to support this valuable facility through donations both big and small.  Like drops of water filling a pool, each and every contribution will move our campaign to completion.  But we don’t have a lot of time.  The condition of the current pool will be uncertain every spring from this point on.  One of these years it may finally be determined to be beyond the point of repair.  So the sooner we start receiving financial contributions, the better. 

Make a difference, donate today!

Gowrie Pool Fundraising Campaign
c/o Mindy Swieter
PO Box 41
Gowrie, IA  50543
info@gowriepool.com