GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – It appears there is a new plan in place to save Green Bay’s aging Colburn Pool.
A press release from Alderman Joe Moore late Thursday night states Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt and Alderman Chris Wery have come up with an agreement to secure the long-term future of the pool, which the city council has debated for six years.
The plan recommends the city begin using the $3.5 million in bonding that the city council approved for the pool in July of last year.
$200,000 would be used for pool and bathhouse upgrades in 2018, $500,000 would go toward engineering fees, $1.8 million would be put into a Colburn Pool maintenance fund, and $1 million would be put toward overall city debt reduction.
Supporters of Colburn had been pushing a $6.8 million plan to replace the pool, $2.3 million more than what the city council previously signed off on.
Mayor Schmitt has said he is against that plan.
But in the press release, Schmitt spoke about the promise this new deal offers.
“It’s always a good thing when we can sit down and work together. Today we’ve accomplished a great goal ensuring the future of Colburn Pool for the neighborhood and the city as a whole. Throughout this process, we have realized a legitimate need to provide a facility for our swim teams and the young athletes that work so hard throughout Greater Green Bay. We look forward to working with our Neighboring Communities and Brown County as well as the local Swim Teams to develop a state of the art swimming facility in Brown County that will compete with the likes of Fond du Lac and Eau Claire.”
Alderman Chris Wery, who has spearheaded the effort to renovate the pool at Colburn, issued his own statement and says he’ll submit the plan for consideration at Monday’s city council meeting.
“Without groups such as the Friends of Colburn Pool and the donors who offered unwavering support over years of uncertainty we couldn’t be where we are at today. The future of Colburn is secure and we were able to accomplish this by sitting down and putting the desires of the citizens at the forefront of our conversations. A plan is in place that will not only make Colburn Pool better than ever but will have a positive budgetary effect at the same time.”
Additional efforts are also being planned to increase pool attendance, according to Moore.
Moore says potential programming could include days for food trucks, pool inflatables, and kayak lessons.
