Citizens committee formed to save Moores Park Pool 

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 15 — Lansing Mayor Andy Schor hopes a passionate group of local residents can brainstorm some fresh ideas to keep the city’s historic Moores Park Pool open for yet another summer. 

A new citizens advisory committee — The People’s Pool: Lansing’s Committee for a Sustainable Moores Park Pool — was announced this morning and is looking for any interested individuals or entities to join its efforts. The goal: focus on the future vision of the Moores Park, paying particular attention to ensure its public pool stays open. 

“I fully support this effort by this citizen committee and these citizen leaders to raise the necessary funds and ensure that there is a pool in Moores Park,” Schor said in a news release. “I encourage all to participate in this effort, and I look forward to working with them to make this public-private effort a great success for all of Lansing.” 

Veronica Gracia-Wing, who chairs the city Park Board, announced the new committee in the news release. She is serving as its temporary leader. 

“Our most immediate steps are to launch a public Facebook group for the committee to share resources and news, invite participation and to help mobilize the effort for the most number of people,” Gracia-Wing said. “Next, we’ll facilitate an upcoming committee meeting to continue organizational efforts and begin to do the strategic planning necessary to meet our goals, including determining an initial fundraising campaign to ensure we’re addressing the positive momentum of community support.”  

People can get more information and learn how to volunteer by visiting this Facebook group.

The unqiuue, above-ground pool, which was built in 1923, was designed by Wesley Bintz, a former city chief engineer. It is believed to be the oldest continually operating public swimming pool in the the country. Bintz designed more than 100, but only a handful still exist. 

In November, the city announced $1.2 million in “needed” repairs to bring the pool up to snuff, including $414,000 to replace the iconic concrete railing and patch up the spider-cracked interior, $410,000 to overhaul the plumbing beneath the pool and another $357,000 for a fresh heating system, among other mechanical work. 

Additionally, the pool sprang a leak last summer, costing the city about $1,400 per week to keep it filled while chlorinated water presumably spilled into the Grand River. Without a fix, it’s unclear if the 97-year-old pool will be able to open this summer. But local historians and preservationists are rallying to its rescue. 

The Historical Society of Greater Lansing and Preservation Lansing are expected to work in tandem with the new committee after officials there voiced plans last year for a joint fundraising committee. Donations could flow from local businesses, developers and local residents — and lean on Schor’s next budget for support. 

A four-prong gameplan has already been outlined for the new committee. Officials want to fully assess and understand the maintenance needs, build a financial structure to address the expenses, renovate and maintain the pool and then develop additional programming to draw in more local residents during the summer months. 

To assist with the financing efforts, the city has also recently partnered with the Michigan Public Health Institute to apply for federal grant funding through the Save America’s Treasures Program, pledging matching support for restoration efforts. Those awards will be announced in March while the committee gets to work. 

Schor has also voiced a willingness to provide financing from the city to help support the pool, but recognized there likely won’t be enough cash in the budget to float all of the needed repairs. He hasn’t yet announced whether the pool can reopen without repairs, noting “nothing is certain” until its needs can be better assessed. 

“We’ll need to assess what the problem is and decide what we’re able to do for next year,” Schor said previously. “We’re going to take our time and assess the problem with the pool and make the best decisions we can.” 

Meanwhile, Ingham County officials are also looking at using some parks and trails millage funds to help rehabilitate the space. Local preservations are also exploring other revenue streams like grants and donations. Officials are still looking for members to participate in the committee. Search on Facebook for more details.