Four options for the future of Cravens Pool were presented Wednesday by Director of Owensboro Parks Amanda Rogers to a room of concerned residents in the Dugan Best, Mechanicsville and Baptist Town areas.
At the City of Owensboro’s August work session, Rogers reported that Cravens Pool needed several repairs just to get the pool back into compliance.
An estimated $383,000 is needed to bring the pool back into code.
With this knowledge, Rogers posed four options for the future of the pool: bring the pool back up to code; add amenities to the pool like a spray tower; convert the pool into a different recreational space; or close the pool and return the property to Owensboro Public Schools, as they are the owners of the land the pool sits on.
The decision that is made is going to need to be approved by the City of Owensboro and OPS, per the agreement on the land.
The residents in attendance seemingly were all for keeping the land with some form of modification and not closing the pool altogether. Rogers said that with the second option, they can spend $500,000 altogether with the difference going toward the installation of new amenities. The third option, Rogers said, could be anywhere from $250,000 to $500,000.
“I personally hope the pool stays open, but if you’re going to make the repairs, instead of the [$380,000], I think you should do option two, with the $500,000 try to make it better,” said David Phillips, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Owensboro Public Schools.
Several comments were based on the idea that providing the opportunity for the children in the neighborhood to utilize the pool would give them another option for their free time instead of roaming the neighborhoods.
By doing so, the families believe that it will also produce less violence in the neighborhood.
“I mean, for me, there will be absolutely no reason to close it right now if we actually care about kids, families and reducing crime here,” said resident and Owensboro Black Expo member Dracin Williams.
Rogers said that a survey will be released today on the Owensboro Parks Facebook page that is dedicated to gathering public opinion on the future of Cravens Pool. They are collecting opinions until Oct. 8, when the survey will close.
