I want to thank the Centralia School District, Thorbeckes and the City of Centralia for taking care of our pool. The pool recently had a pump go out which left it shut down for over a couple of months. It's frustrating when it is closed, but the district maintenance office took all due diligence in getting it fixed as quickly as possible for the lowest cost.
The district recently reopened its hot tub, too, and did a very nice job. And during the recent shutdown, improvements were made in the locker rooms.
The citizens of Centralia voted for a bond, now paid off, to build the pool for the district and, when not used by the district, made a commitment to have it open to the public. It is owned by the district and city, and Thorbeckes has been contracted to manage it.
The city, the school district and Thorbeckes work together and share the bills to keep it open. They have been doing a good job honoring their agreement with the taxpayers to keep it open for all.
A while ago, when on working issues with the district, I saw data that showed just for the water aerobics classes, there were over 1,800 use occurrences within one month. Seniors are overwhelmingly the patrons who use the pool the most and especially in the water aerobics classes which, for many of them, is the main exercise they can do while protecting their joints.
The other main uses of the pool is the swim team, teaching swimming, open swim for kids and families to play, and swimming laps for exercise.
It's greatly appreciated.
Neal Kirby
Centralia
