The Ridgewood News
February 6, 2009
by Paul Aronsohn
Graydon must be renovated, and it must be renovated now.
From an economic perspective, the case is compelling. Membership is declining, and according to Village Manager Jim Ten Hoeve, it currently costs Village taxpayers over $100,000 per year to maintain.
From a health and safety perspective, the case is compelling: The water is unsafe, due to its lack of cleanliness and its lack of clarity.
And from an overall community perspective the case is compelling. The current pool is largely inaccessible to Village residents with mobility limitations-residents who use wheelchairs, who use canes, or who just have trouble walking in sand or getting in and out of water.
Fortunately, the Ridgewood Pool Project- a group of residents that has devoted over two years to studying the issue - has offered us an available way forward. It may not be perfect - nothing ever is - but it provides a means by which to address each of these issues and to restore Graydon to its rightful place as the center of our community.
To be sure, many residents have raised very thoughtful concerns about the proposal. Some are concerned about losing Graydon's natural beauty. Some are concerned about the proposed layout and mix of features. And everyone - including us supporters - is concerned about the potential cost to taxpayers.
Allow me to try to address each of these concerns:
Graydon's natural beauty
We all recognize and appreciate that Graydon is a Village landmark, now for its history and its unique beauty. But we must also recognize that it is a landmark diminishing in importance as residents choose - in increasing numbers - not to swim in the water. As such, we must further recognize our collective responsibility to reverse this trend - to address the well-founded health and safety concerns - while preserving as much of Graydon's natural appearance as possible. To me, the Ridgewood Pool Project has largely accomplished this.
Proposed layout & features
The proposal put forward is just that - a proposal. It can be touched-up, fine-tuned, or even reworked. There is plenty of time for more public input. But again, it seems that the Ridgewood Pool Project has got it largely right. Leisure pool. Lap pool. Toodler area. Lazy river. Dive well. Water slide. Jacuzzi area. There is something for everyone - young, old, able and disabled.
Potential cost
At present, Graydon is hemorrhaging money - lots of it. Declining membership has led to declining revenues and increasing deficits. In other words, the status quo is too costly, and we need a fundamental change. Fortunately, the Ridgewood Pool Project has offered us a plan that would basically pay for itself through membership fees and only a relatively modest $82,000 over two years in taxpayer money - a sum much smaller than the current facility's expected loss of over $200,000 during the same period of time. And conservative estimates suggest that a renovated Graydon would see a dramatic increase in membership and a corresponding dramatic increase in revenue.
So, going forward, we need to do a few key things.
We need to continue our community-wide conversation about this issue and make sure that every voice is heard and given its due consideration.
We need to make sure that this conversation is civil, respectful and grounded in our shared commitment to our community.
We need to reexamine the Ridgewood Pool Project's numbers.
We need to allow for reasonable modifications to the proposal.
But at the end of the day - when all is said and done - we need to renovate Graydon, and we need to do it ... now.
