Sunday, November 8, 2009

Pool Opens To The Public, But Not At Truman

From Ald. Mary Ann Smith's monthly newsletter:

Swift School Pool to Re-Open. After being closed for more than ten years, the swimming pool at Swift School, 5900 N. Winthrop, will re-open with a dedication ceremony on Thursday, November 19, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Community members are welcome to come and tour the new facility. The Senn High School Color Guard will post colors, and there will be performances by the Sullivan High School Steel Band, the Swift Choir and the Swift Band. The event will take place from 5:30-7:30 PM. The pool, pool deck and locker rooms have been completely renovated and made accessible. Funding for the project came from a combination of Aldermanic discretionary funds and the Chicago Public Schools. The pool will be open to the community, but the details have not yet been finalized. "Swift is one of the few elementary schools to have a pool, and it was a shame this asset was unusable," Alderman Smith said. "We invested in this project to create a new resource for our entire community."

In the 46th Ward, more than $500,000 of aldermanic discretionary funds got poured into Wilson Yard in 2008 (on top of the $112,000,000 in TIF funds), and isn't that a funny number?

"Unfortunately, we can’t open the [Truman College] pool to the public any time soon. It needs more than $600,000 worth of work to update aged equipment and facilities. We have made access to the pool and gym a priority for the college and the community as soon as we complete work on the new Larry McKeon Administrative Building and parking deck in the spring of 2010."

1 comment:

  1. That's kind of funny to me about Truman.. I was told that we can't use the pool there since the YWCA uses it and for security reasons. How have they been able to use it if it needs so much work? I constantly wonder what my school *activity fees* do cover?

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