Summer would be a bummer without new town pool

By Guest

Dear Editor:

When I was 8, my parents signed me up for the Canton Dolphins swim team so I could start to have the experience of a team sport. I had tried soccer and baseball, and they weren’t for me. The home pool for the Dolphins was constructed about 45 years ago on Bolivar Street, and at this stage, it has more than a few issues. Problems with the pool can no longer be patched and band-aided, and it’s not cost effective for the taxpayers to support this sagging structure. Smart people have been working toward a solution, and it turns out that the most cost-effective plan is to renovate the existing pool on its current site. The new facility will include ramps and a zero-depth pool entry for people with disabilities. The pool would have an additional lane and starting blocks for racing, and the wading pool would be replaced with a splash pad. It would have improved parking, gates, first aid stations, and more.

Many people look at the proposed cost and immediately think it is too expensive, and that our town has other priorities and needs. However, the actual impact to the average Canton resident is about $35 per year. You can barely take a family of four out for ice cream with $35, and you certainly can’t take them all to a movie. But with $35 per year, we can support a recreational structure that a new generation of families can enjoy for the next several decades. Professionals are not sure if the current structure will even last the full summer season in 2019. If Canton does not support the new project, we will lose a resource enjoyed by residents of all ages since the 1970s. Do we want to see our community go backwards?

Swimming lessons at the Bolivar pool are very affordable for families — currently only $75 for a two-week session. Water safety is so important for all children, even if they don’t choose to become a competitive swimmer like me. If we no longer have a town pool, families will have to choose other, more expensive and less convenient options for swimming lessons. All the camps run by Canton Parks & Rec. will no longer have an in-town option for cooling off on a hot summer day. It would be such a loss.

Our amazing Dolphins coaches model how to be a good competitor both in and out of the water. Without my preparation at the Bolivar pool, I doubt I would have earned my varsity letter as a freshman on my school team just last year. Coach Sandy Hart and her assistants help us prove to ourselves that hard work pays off. They help us to be healthy and strong, and we have a lot of fun. Whether you’re on the swim team like I am, or you just enjoy a good cannonball, I hope you’ll agree with me that summer would be a bummer without a new town pool. Please come out to town meeting and vote ‘Yes’ to Keep Canton Swimming.

Sincerely,

Ryan Horrigan

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