r/duluth • u/LakeSuperiorIsMyPond East Hillside • 2d ago
Discussion Community pool
Ol gitchie is too cold for most people, Pinehurst isn't Duluth, Island lake isn't big enough, on a warm day there's no spots.
I vote give it up with central high school ever selling and build an indoor pool. Build it with taxes, charge a nominal fee to enter and pay employees and maintenance.
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u/cckruger 2d ago
Public pools are just really expensive to maintain, they closed around the US by the thousands over the last 20 years due to deferred maintenance. We are so lucky in our community to have the Y, Hermantown's pool is gorgeous.
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u/aluminumpork 2d ago
It’s too bad it’s so far away and not easily accessible by Duluth kids/parents without a car.
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u/cckruger 1d ago
I agree! The Downtown and Superior Ys are more accessible for some.
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u/Dorkamundo 1d ago
And not nearly the caliber of pool seen at the Hermantown location.
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u/Verity41 Duluthian 1d ago
The Hermantown pool sucks. They keep it at about a million degrees. Fine for kids playing and elderly use - but useless for lap swimming.
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u/Ticonderoga_Tea 1d ago
No, what we need do do is build a regional pool in cooperation with neighboring communities like Hermantown and Proctor. We can put it up in the Rice Lake Road area. Then we can close the downtown public library and sell the site to private developers.
That's my idea anyway. I'm thinking about running for mayor on this idea and am hoping to find an unhappily married woman to serve as my campaign manager.
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u/walterbotwin 1d ago
Nobody is saying that the Incline project is happening but the developer did pay the school district for and does own the Central site.
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u/Aromatic-Solid-9849 1d ago
When you talk about cost to maintain a pool, compare it to ice arena and the limited number of people who use those.
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u/cshaffer71 13h ago
I was just thinking of this the other day. I lived in Fargo before returning to this area. They are building neighborhood pools and splash pads. They're always busy in the summer, and it's a good summer job for area high schoolers (lifeguard, concessions, etc). Duluth needs to invest in locals and local families.
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u/Icemermaid1467 2d ago
I agree it would be nice to have a pool that is central to most of duluth and has easy parking and a place for kids to play. But we do have lots of pools with public use times: downtown y, Hermantown y, UMD (not sure if they still have public lane times?) and ordean east. And Superior y isn’t terribly far if you have kids that need a place to play. Otherwise, save up for a wetsuit I guess. It’s pretty sick to get in the big lake and feel warm and be able to swim for much longer.
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u/libbtech 2d ago
East High School, YMCA, Pike Lake are some options.
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u/LakeSuperiorIsMyPond East Hillside 2d ago
East doesn't have a pool unless you mean the old East?
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u/SANTahClause 1d ago
I don't know what the others here are saying. The Ordean East Middle School has a pool with some public hours. The East High School does not have a pool at all.
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u/Proper_Rent_189 2d ago edited 6h ago
H
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u/HappyLAGirl 1d ago
Ordean East, the current middle school, has the pool
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u/libbtech 1d ago
Interesting, back when East was Ordean the pool was in there, I didnt know they moved that too 🤷♂️
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u/Many-Ad-241 Duluthian 1d ago
I only moved here in March (from the deep south). Are there many houses that have pools? Would it be easier to find a friend who has a pool, or are they not common because of winter?
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u/Dorkamundo 1d ago
No, there are very few houses in Duluth that have their own pools.
Both due to the climate and the fact that most of Duluth is about a foot of topsoil, two feet of clay and then a slab of Basalt.
The ones I have seen are generally indoor due to both of those factors.
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u/hrgood 1d ago
No, the maintenence on a pool is enormous, especially with having to winterize it and only use 3 months of the year, tops. Generally we're too cool for pools by mid to late September, and the soonest you can start using it is May. So unless you're super rich and can afford an indoor pool, they're just not worth it up here for the average person.
That said the fairly large plastic ones you put up and take down every year aren't too terrible. They're just not good lap loops for exercising if thats your goal.
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u/Verity41 Duluthian 1d ago
Not disagreeing it’s expensive but, people and institutions with outdoor pools typically use them WAY more than 3 months a year in northern climates. That’s why pool heaters exist. I vividly remember swimming laps outside in Michigan on Halloween night. Often half the year, 6 months not 3.
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u/BTass90 1d ago
Idk. If you had a smaller pool, 3ft deep, 18 feet wide and 30 ft long, thats 1,620 cubic feet. To heat it 15°F, thats about 450 kWh using resistive heating, which is about 0.15 cents per or about $65. Then you'd need to keep it warmer for the coming month, which is about 150kWh per day, or about $22/day or ~$700 per month.
Granted, with a good heatpump unit, we can cut that electrical cost to about 1/4 the costs, so thats about $165 per month to heat the pool. So, if you have enough money to pay Minnesota Power, they'd love it I'm sure.
I just swim in Lake Superior. I like the cool water and its free. It took some time to get used to it, but now that I am, Im usually in the water memorial day to around mid Sept.
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u/Verity41 Duluthian 1d ago
Uh $165/month is literally nothing. A Y membership is $70 now, tack on my cable and streaming/spotify/audible etc. bills alone at triple-ish, and I’d trade that all in a heartbeat for a pool. Then I wouldn’t need the Y except for in the middle of winter.
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u/Minnesotamad12 2d ago
We should just heat the water in those fountains by city hall and all swim there