Campaign for public Gig Harbor pool gets nod from PenMet for aquatic center study

After a determined campaign led by two amphibious moms, the PenMet park board this week agreed to explore the idea of a public aquatic center for Gig Harbor.

No money was committed, and there were a lot of words like “consider,” “study” and “feasibility,” yet there it was — staff were directed at the Sept. 7 board meeting to look into the possibility that a PenMet property might host a public swimming pool.

The property in question might be the long-vacant Peninsula Gardens, it was suggested.

“It’s very exciting for us,” said Sarah Stancikas, one of the two Gig Harbor women behind the campaign called Swim Safe, still sounding a little stunned. “It has happened pleasantly fast. We know it’s only first steps, but we are very excited.”

Consistent message

Since the organization was formed in July, some dozens of its 500 members have appeared at every Peninsula Metropolitan Park Board meeting, many of them in the group’s signature white t-shirt with a wavy blue logo. Their message, repeated again and again, has been consistent: Gig Harbor, a city surrounded by water, has no public swimming pool.

At the most recent meeting, co-founder Heather Maher presented a petition signed by 1,000 area residents — and a binder filled with testimonials and endorsements, including one from the Peninsula School District.

“You all would be so proud of our town,” Maher told the park board. “We live in such a wonderful place with so many people who fight for the needs that they see in the place where they live.”

“You have been very persistent,” park Commissioner Maryellen “Missy” Hill responded later in the meeting. “And with that, I’d like to ask staff to consider studying the feasibility of advancing a public aquatic facility for the Gig Harbor peninsula using a PenMet property.” She went on to say she hoped a proposal could find its way onto the 2021-22 budget, and mentioned in passing the Peninsula Gardens site.

Commissioner Laurel Kingsbury also congratulated the group for its “well thought-out presentation,” and added, “I look forward to having it happen at some point. I don’t know anything about timelines or budgeting or anything yet, but you have to start somewhere.”

Old nursery is central

The Peninsula Gardens site makes sense, Stancikas said in an interview, because of its size, its location near freeway access and “the fact that it’s already partially developed. You wouldn’t have to tear down a lot of trees.” The former nursery is at 5503 Wollochet Dr., near the intersection with Filmore Drive Northwest. It’s been used in recent years mostly for Saturday farmer’s markets in the spring and summer.

Building an aquatic center would be a heavy lift for PenMet, which is currently building a $22 million indoor recreation center. But Maher says Swim Safe is thinking “five or six years out” and is exploring other sources of funding that could be done in partnership with PenMet.

Stancikas points to tiny Lopez Island, which has raised $5.84 million toward an $8 million community pool project, 73 percent of it from 1,000 local donors. A Gig Harbor aquatic center would have to be larger, she acknowledges. The Weyerhaeuser Aquatic Center in Federal Way cost $18.8 million to build.

But it’s early days yet, she said, and they’ve only scratched the surface of funding possibilities.

“We haven’t even taken any money yet,” Stancikas said. “We’re doing a lot of research, talking to cities, like Fircrest, that have done pools, and exploring the different grants and options for when the time does come.”

Teaching kids to swim

Swim Safe Gig Harbor grew out of Maher’s frustration about finding a place to teach her kids to swim. It’s dangerous, she feels, for kids to live in a community surrounded by so much water without knowing how to swim.

She posted on Facebook about the lack of a pool, and that led to a Facebook group that now has 500-plus members and counting. The campaign gained special urgency in July, when a Port Orchard teenager drowned in Horseshoe Lake, just over the Kitsap County line.

There are at least five pools in Gig Harbor, but none are public and they are all booked solid, Stancikas said. Both of the high schools have pools, but they are in nearly constant use by high school teams and organized swim clubs. The YMCA pool has a long waiting list and a downtown commercial pool, which specializes in training competitive swimmers, is expensive. There is an outdoor pool at the Canterwood Golf Club, but it requires a membership and is only usable in the summer.

Among the letters of support Swim Safe garnered for its effort was one from Krestin Bahr, superintendent of the Peninsula School District, which owns two of the existing pools.

“The functionality of the available pools in Gig Harbor no longer meets the needs of our growing community,” she wrote. “Gig Harbor desperately needs a public aquatic facility to continue to provide for the water safety and water recreation needs of our expanding community.”

The group also received letters of support from the Kiwanis Club of Gig Harbor, Chapel Hill Church, and several businesses, including two realtors who noted it would increase property values.

Support also came from child care centers and several pediatricians, one of whom, Dr. Imka Lavinder, pointed out that “drowning is the leading cause of death in ages 1-4 and the third leading cause of unintentional death in ages 5-19.”

This story was originally published September 14, 2021 at 5:00 AM.