Paying for the pool

With the calendar officially flipped to 2021, fundraising efforts for Hartley's new pool are ramping up in earnest.

Local residents were recently mailed brochures to help drum up financial support for the planned swimming hole. Organizers are hoping to raise $500,000 this year, which will help offset the estimated $3 million price tag.

Various naming opportunities are offered based on donation levels. For instance, a $250 contribution will get the donor an engraved brick at the pool and a $24,000 gift will get a diving board with their name on it. Overall, there are a dozen naming opportunities ranging from a bike rack to a toddler slide.

If supported by voters on March 2, a bond issue will pay for a bulk of the new pool's construction. The city also intends to apply for grants. According to City Administrator Erica Haack, the council is slated to approve the ballot language on Jan. 11, and informational meetings will be held over the next two months.

"We want to get as much information to citizens as we can," she said.

The pool task force committee held a pulled pork fundraiser meal in October to kick off the donation drive. Haack said another event may be planned in the near future, but doing so will be difficult due to COVID-19 restrictions.

"We'll have to see how things go," she said. "Anything that we have, we will follow protocols. It has been a little difficult."

If local voters approve its financing in March, Hartley's new swimming pool will be built at or near its current location in Neebel Park. Other spots were discussed, but the park provided the least expensive option.

City officials have been discussing a new pool for five years. The current swimming pool was built in 1958 and the last major updates were completed in 1996. Several issues have worsened in recent years, and inspectors have determined the facility is nearing the end of its functioning life.

The square footage of the new pool will be comparable to the current one. The pool taskforce committee originally gave design company Water's Edge a price point of $1.75 million to develop blueprints, but that amount would get Hartley a new pool that's 40 percent smaller than the current one with very few additional amenities.

If constructed, the new pool will include zero-entry play area with a family slide, four swimming lanes, deep water diving and swim area, basketball hoops and a volleyball net, new bathhouse, and a large deck area with shaded zones. It is hoped to be constructed and operable by the summer of 2022.

According to Haack, gifts have netted $65,252 so far, not including donations from the recent letter campaign. Tax-deductible contributions may be given to the Hartley Community Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit for the Hartley Community Pool Campaign.