Will San Ramon Valley High Get a New Pool?

 may get a new swimming pool by next summer if the school board approves the recommendation at its meeting Tuesday.

The pool is 58 years old, and had to be drained because of surface cracks and fiber glass chipping away, said Terry Koehne, San Ramon Valley Unified School District director of communications.

Cracks also were found in the foundation after the pool was drained.

“It’s very old, very antiquated,” Koehne said. “It is not up to the standards of any of the California Interscholastic Federation swim meets. The community at San Ramon Valley High has been wanting a new pool for a long, long time.”

Koehne said it would cost $50,000 to $70,000 for a temporary fix that may get the school’s swim team through the next season.

Building a new pool would cost about $3.5 million, which would come from the district’s Fund 21, a facilities fund, and not the general budget. The fund comes from developer fees, income from a school bond and some state money.

The Danville Town Council also committed about $500,000 to help fund the project, Koehne said. In exchange, the pool could be used exclusively by the town’s recreation department for five hours Mondays through Thursdays for eight weeks each summer.

The town uses the pool during summer months for swim classes and aquatic programs.

Danville Town Manager Joe Calabrigo said the town and school district have had a longstanding partnership for the use of school facilities such as playgrounds, pools and tennis courts.

“I think that [the council] was excited by the possibility of seeing the pool that’s there now be replaced with something that would last for another 60 years, and would better meet both the district’s and community’s needs,” Calabrigo said.

Koehne said the school's parent fund-raising group, the SRVHS Wolf Foundation, may provide funding for features such as a score board, or solar power for the pool, which would help cut maintenance costs.

This is not the first attempt at building a new pool for the school. There were several fundraising attempts, but they were unsuccessful.

Calabrigo said the town agreed to help fund the pool several years ago after a booster group attempted to raise the money needed to build a new pool. The group’s attempt was unsuccessful and the town’s offer expired.

“We feel that at this point, the timing is right for us to recommend to the board construction there,” Koehne said. “We just felt that it was a better investment, both financially and as far as the community is concerned, to go ahead and construct a new pool.”

The $3.5 million includes construction of a 35 meter by 23 meter pool, surrounding decking, locker rooms and showers.

The estimated annual increase in operational costs is $100,000, which could be  offset by increased lease agreements for pool use, regional competitive meets and solar heating, according to the proposal on the board’s meeting agenda.

“San Ramon Valley High School went through more than one fund-raising campaign to do this on their own,” Koehne said. “I have a feeling the San Ramon Valley community, if the board approves this, will be very excited.”

The goal, if approved by the board Tuesday, is to have the new pool completed in time for the 2012-2013 school year.