For 67 years, East Park Pool has been part of life in Los Alamos. Children have learned to swim, parents have chatted on the pool deck, and teenagers have worked as our amazing guards.
This fall, we were reminded just how much this community needs our facility.
While the County pool has been closed, our small pool and our very limited board have kept East Park open for more than an extra month, giving local teams and lap swimmers somewhere to go. One of our board members—James, looking at you, man—has been waking up every day at 5 a.m. to open the pool and coach the swimmers, then coming back after work to keep it running. Others on our board—Bob, BT, and Carl—have worked overtime to keep our furnace functioning, our chemicals stocked, and our pump running despite the chill of autumn.
We were glad to do it.
But behind the scenes, we have been asking ourselves a rather difficult question:
Will we be able to open next summer?
The honest answer is: we don’t know yet.
East Park Pool is facing a significant financial shortfall. We are not covering our annual operating expenses. Our pump room needs substantial work, our aging building needs maintenance, and we simply do not have enough people to carry the work required to keep even a small pool healthy and sustainable.
So today, we are launching the Save East Park Pool Campaign.
The truth is, we do not want to say goodbye to East Park. We want to keep it open for the next fifty years.
And we have a plan to make that possible.
We are working on a stronger membership model, new programs and events, fundraising and business sponsorships, grants, and a long-term plan for the facility.
But those things require something we don’t currently have enough of:
People.
We need community members willing to serve on the board, join committees, help with fundraising, volunteer at events, connect us with local businesses, donate, and bring their ideas and skills to the table.
If you love East Park Pool—or simply believe Los Alamos is better with its community pools—we are asking you to help us keep it here.
Our Member Meeting is October 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Los Alamos Public Library.
We’ll talk honestly about where we are, explain our plan, and talk about how you can help.
Can’t make the meeting? You can still be part of the effort. Fill out our short survey to let us know how you’d like to help:
East Park Pool has been here since the very beginning of Los Alamos.
Let’s keep it that way.
Sincerely,
East Park Pool Board
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