SAVANNAH, MO — The Savannah City Council has placed a 13-cent tax levy on the upcoming November election ballot, asking citizens whether they want to continue the tax in order to renovate the municipal swimming pool. The levy would provide $650,000 over a 20-year term to finance repairs and pool upgrades.
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The plan would rehabilitate the pool, rehab the pool house and provide new mechanical systems as needed. The repairs and upgrades are being proposed by Ellison-Auxier Architects, a firm which donated its preliminary engineering services.
Park officials say the pool leaks. It was recently found that the pool used 300,000 gallons of water per month during the 2012 summer season because of leaks. The lost water ends up in the storm sewer system.
There are six major items for renovations and rehabilitation for the pool: compliance with ADA (new lift, reworking existing stairs, and zero-depth entry), refinishing pool walls and floor, installing two new portable lifeguard chairs, installing a new chemical room, and installing needed plumbing and electrical work. The council decided against adding a 2,000-sqft splash park estimated to cost $250,000.
Attendance at Savannah Swimming Pool has declined recently, as athletic practices for the school’s fall sports began. Some people say if the pool is not rehabilitated, it would not reopen next summer. Others question whether the upgrades would last for the 20-year length of the needed financing.
Savannah is nearing the end of the financing on swimming pool improvements which were completed in 1994.