TOOELE — The Tooele High School boys swim team had no pool of its own last season and was forced to train outside the city — but still took the state's top 3A honors. The girls team took third.
By May 2003, though, the teams and the rest of the city should have a new $4 million place in which to splash, swim and practice.
The kicker — the Tooele County School District has agreed to fork over $900,000 for friendlier waters, located just a stone's throw from THS.
"This is essentially prepaid rent," said Superintendent Larry Shumway. The dollar amount is in lieu of an annual rental fee the district has paid to use the pool. "We think it's a reasonable deal."
The existing 50-year-old pool gradually met its demise in recent years, becoming structurally unsound and forcing its eventual closure. The new one will be built over the old.
"It was time for it to go," said THS swim coach Mel Roberts. "I hated to see it go."
After all, it's where Roberts has coached kids to 11 state titles in swimming and diving over the past 33 years.
Lately, though, the team has had the unflattering misfortune of having to train in several different locations — "wherever we could get a pool," Roberts said. "We were all over," including West Valley and Magna.
Thanks in part to Roberts' brother Charlie — who happens to be Tooele's mayor — and a bit of negotiating with the school district, a new pool is on its way, with a groundbreaking set for April.
Residents can expect three indoor pools — one each for laps swimmers, recreational swimmers and small children. Through a 20-year contract with the city, the school district can count on having the lap pool to itself for about five hours every day, five days a week during the school year.
"I think the city is the better off for it, as is the school district," the mayor said. "It'd be silly to do anything else. It's just not a good use of taxpayer dollars to build two pools."
On the fiscal front, the city will cut the municipal pool's yearly operations costs from about $170,000 to less than $100,000. And a city with a long history of great swimmers will have a new pool.
"So, we hope to keep that tradition alive," said Mayor Roberts.
The opening is scheduled for Memorial Day 2003.
Said the mayor's brother, "It's going to be a great day."
E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com