HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-21-26 Public Comment - D. Douglass - new pool facilityFrom:dlkohout@yahoo.com
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]new pool facility
Date:Monday, September 21, 2026 12:22:42 PM
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To whom it may concern -
A new pool facility for the Gallatin Valley is long overdue. At over 50 years old, the newest
facility, the Swim Center, is wholly inadequate. Despite nearly 300 competitive swimmers in
the local area, aged 6 to 60+, the Swim Center can only host long course meets, which
comprise a fraction of swim competitions in which local swimmers race, and no high school
meets at all, despite three public high schools who either have or would like to have swim
programs. Additionally, despite having the largest swim club in the state of Montana, and the
fastest one in 2026, the Barracudas cannot host a single short course meet, cannot have
morning practices nor Saturday practices and frequently skip practices due to pool
unavailability. This is both highly unusual for a serious swim club and unacceptable for serious
athletes.
If that weren’t reason enough, learn-to-swim programs are few and far between and often
have wait-lists, yet Montana having the third highest rate of drowning in the US, behind only
Alaska and Hawaii, both of which have thousands of miles of oceans shoreline. Clearly, more
Montanans need to learn water safety, which is only possible with more access to safe,
controlled water.
Beyond the youth programs, there are several hundred adults who frequent the Swim Center,
including a substantial and competitive Masters Swim Team, a crowd of lap swimmers, water
walkers, kayakers, people who seek to stay active through water aerobics and families who
enjoy playing together during the few hours each week that the pool is open to them.
While improved programming could aid the situation, that would be only like the proverbial
finger in the dam. A new pool complex would not only create an opportunity to save lives
through learn-to-swim programs and offer improved fitness and health, but it could also bring
revenue. Correctly designed, an aquatics facility could also house rentable space for
community use, snack bar or restaurant facilities and/or a fitness center. Beyond the facility
itself, competitions held there multiple times each year would bring hundreds of families into
the local area, staying at local hotels and dining at local establishments.
An aquatic facility that includes a 50mx25y competition pool, a warmer 25y warm-up pool
(also for water aerobics) and a zero-depth entry shallow pool with small features for children,
would serve the varied needs not only of the local populace but also of the entire state of
Montana, offering a facility that does not exist anywhere else in Montana, but is fairly
common in most other states.
Thank you,
Donna Douglass