The Big Plunge
Adrian staff proposes 140-foot water slide for city’s Bohn Pool.
By MATT CROSSMAN
Daily Telegram Staff Writer
ADRIAN—City commissioners took one step up the ladder Monday in moving toward initiating $500,000 in improvements at Bohn Pool.
They gave community services director Mark Gasche the green light to further investigate plans to install a 20-foot high, 140-foot long water slide at the city-run facility.
Plans include improvements to make the facility more family oriented. The daily youth rate would increase from $1.50 to $2.50 to help cover the cost of construction.
Gasche and parks and recreation program director Dan Rodgerson hope to have the slide up and running by spring of 1997, but commissioners aren’t willing yet to commit to that.
They’re still wary of how to pay the $120,000 price tag.
Gasche has set aside $40,000 for the slide and suggested two funding proposals, both of which would require loans. There was also discussion of using general fund dollars.
“It is significant to note that by financing the additional money needed to purchase a large water-slide, our operating deficit would be comparable to making no changes. By installing the water0slide we would have the benefit of this attraction, and, after the slide was paid off, we would see a marked improvement in our financial position,” the proposal for the slide says.
The water slide and other improvements are meant to try to increase usage of the pool which generally runs at 25 percent capacity; Rodgerson told the city commission during their Monday pre-meeting study session.
Rodgerson has been investigating the slide for more than a year. He oversees the operation of the facility, which would require additional staffing with the new slide. He also earned high marks for the successful launching of the city’s inline skating hockey league last year.
The pool typically runs a deficit of about $68,000 annually which the city has swallowed because the pool is considered a good community project.
Accompanying rate hikes for use of the pool would decrease the deficit to about $55,000 per year, Gasche said.
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