Last week the Winnemucca Municipal Pool boiler quit working; officials said that a part has been located and they hope to repair it the week of Nov. 22 with re-opening tentatively planned for Nov. 29 as long as the repair goes as planned.
The pool boiler has been reported to have issues for quite some time and paired with the older-than-normal lifespan infrastructure of the building, city and county officials continue to brainstorm ways to pay for a new pool for the community.
A new pool designed to meet the community’s needs — as determined by the feasibility study completed in the last year — determined that the cost will exceed $13M to build. Officials hope that the current pool will last long enough to build a new one.
The best location for the new pool has been determined to be city property at the Ralph Whitworth Recreation Complex and adjacent to the splash pad and Boys & Girls Club building.
Winnemucca City Manager/Engineer Alicia Heiser said officials are still working with the state and feds to determine whether a portion of the $10.4M in American Rescue Plan Act funding can be used for a new pool according to the fund use criteria.
As part of the ARPA funding criteria, outdoor recreation is allowed as an approved use, as well as showing that the project completed by the funds for recreation serve an underserved population of the community.
Heiser said the city is exploring options to have a retractable roof on the new pool which may meet the outdoor recreation criteria of funding.
The other criteria that may be met by a new pool for ARPA funding is travel and tourism and the city is exploring the benefit to the community in that area that would be met by a new competition-size pool where regional meets could be held.
