Downey : Pool Expenses Allocated

After almost a year of negotiations between the school district and the city over how the cost of a proposed Olympic-size swimming pool will be divided, the City Council Wednesday adopted an ordinance that allocates a $500,000 state grant for construction.

The council tentatively approved the ordinance last week on a 5-0 vote. A previous agreement called for the district and the city to pay $200,000 each but was rescinded after council members raised questions about its effect on the city’s finances.

The cost of the pool, estimated at $908,100, will be divided among the city, which will use the grant it was awarded last year; the district, which will pay $308,100, and a citizens’ group, which will contribute $100,000.

The ordinance requires the city and the Downey Unified School District to make the 75-by-164-foot pool available to the public for 25 years with the district paying for 75% of the maintenance costs and the city paying 25%.

The pool, which will replace Downey High School’s 48-year-old pool, will replace a baseball diamond along Brookshire Avenue and will include restrooms and bleachers.

Downey High’s pool is used by the swim team during the school year and by residents during the summer, according to Jim Jarrett, community services director. But use of the pool has decreased because of heating problems and corroded pipes, he said.

The new pool will allow recreational and competitive swimming, and one- and three-meter diving, according to Jarrett.

The agreement, which must be filed with the state by June 16, requires that the pool be completed in 18 months.

“I would say that by Friday we will send the paper work off to the state. . . . I expect we will get started in selecting an architect almost immediately after that,” Jarrett said.