With residents indicating they want some sort of fix, the Town of North Hempstead is working on a middle ground between two multimillion-dollar proposals to renovate an aging New Hyde Park swimming pool.
About 65 percent of those who responded to a recent survey said the 54-year-old pool at Clinton G. Martin Park should be updated, the town announced Tuesday. About 40 percent back a $15 million plan that would fully renovate the pool deck and facilities, while about 24.6 percent support a $9 million plan to revamp only its aging infrastructure.
The project’s engineers and architects are developing a “hybrid” plan that will likely include new spray features and other updates to the kiddie pool, said Marianna Wohlgemuth, a New Hyde Park civic activist who sits on the planning committee for the renovation.
“I believe we have a good sense of what the residents want and what they are willing to pay for,” Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth said in a statement. “We will be looking to find a ‘middle of the road’ compromise between both plans, so that we can deliver the most desired components of the renovation, while keeping costs down.”
Some 1,717 of 12,877 property owners in the special park district — about 13.3 percent — responded to the survey the town sent after presenting renovation plans at a public meeting in May.
About 30 percent of respondents said they had an existing pool membership and 65 percent said they were not members, town spokeswoman Rebecca Cheng said.
About half the responses were mailed on paper and about half were submitted online, Wohlgemuth said.
The town said most people who answered the survey were against installing a water slide at the pool, a point of contention among residents at May’s meeting.
Most also opposed “aesthetic improvements” engineers proposed, such as concrete pavers and a new wooden building facade, according to the town and Wohlgemuth.
The town says it will move forward with renovations to the pool’s locker room and tennis courts, which some civic leaders and other residents say are unnecessary. It will present updated plans for the pool project in September.
“The survey — it has mixed messages. … But I think a consensus was that the community will still support a pool in some form,” Wohlgemuth said. “That’s the message I got — the communtiy still cherishes their pool and they want to see it nice with more modern equipment.”
Residents in May were divided by age group, with many younger parents saying the pool needs a big upgrade to attract more members and seniors voicing skepticism about the expense.
The town-operated park district would borrow $12.89 million to fund the $15 million renovation, which would eventually more than double residents’ park district property taxes over the 20-year borrowing period, the town has said.
The pool would close if residents did not want any renovation because its infrastructure continues to struggle, the town has said. A pump leak caused it to close for more than a day in July.
Bill Cutrone, president of North New Hyde Park’s Lakeville Estates Civic Association, said his group and the Lakeville Estates Civic Association, its sister group, would support a less expensive hybrid plan.
While he questioned whether the tennis courts need to be redone, Cutrone said the pool’s aging pumps and infrastructure “need to be replaced. They’re old, they’re not functional. There’s no disagreement on that.”
Ideally, Cutrone said, the town should raise park district taxes and do away with extra membership fees, which run from $88 for seniors to $248 for families.
That might open the pool to thousands of employees from the businesses in the park district, Wohlgemuth said.
“On the surface it sounds like a wonderful idea and I would support it, but I hesitate because of the commercial class,” she said.
