Swimming Pool
Dear Editor: It has come to my attention lately that there are members of the Sitka community who are unhappy with the current plans for the design and use of the Mt. Edgecumbe High School pool. I’d like to offer a few thoughts and some history from my perspective.
In the early years of the 21st century, it became increasingly apparent that increases in enrollment at Mt. Edgecumbe High School would be unsustainable without changes to the physical plant of the school. At that time, administrators and representatives of the school began advocating for a new academic wing. This wing would include enough classrooms to be able to centralize all instruction in the same part of campus, eliminating security issues that currently exist. It would also include a significantly larger auditorium space, enabling the entire campus community and visitors to congregate in comfort and safety. Any time that any member of the staff was asked what would be useful in terms of future construction or renovation, this wing was at the top of the list.
A few years ago, the voters of the state of Alaska gave MEHS a pool.
Over the past 12 months or so, a design team has worked hard to create a facility that would satisfy the previously unknown needs of the MEHS campus community. In addition to providing recreational and competitive facilities, this pool will be used for teaching water safety and swimming, which are essential skills that are not taught in many villages as they are here in Sitka. Beyond use by MEHS students and staff, there will be time set aside for use by partner agencies, to include the Coast Guard, Trooper Academy, Sitka Mountain Rescue and others. Their needs and concerns were real considerations during the initial design phase. Finally, an average of an hour and a half per day of public time has been set aside for the Sitka community to make use of this facility.
When the design phase was nearing completion, two public meetings were held. Both were held on weekday afternoons at times when working professionals would be able to attend, both were widely publicized, both were attended by concerned members of the public, and both were well covered in the press.
Now, a design has been released for consideration. My understanding is that this design is preliminary and can still be modified for architectural or engineering reasons, but that the general usage plan is set. This pool is for Mt. Edgecumbe High School primarily, with secondary use by agencies that will use it for training purposes and tertiary use by the general public. There was a great deal of time for interested parties to make known any concerns or objections, and there were many such concerns and objections raised. However, community members who (for whatever reason) did not participate in any earlier part of the design and planning process now want to have their voices heard and are planning a concerted effort to harass the administration of MEHS.
Folks, don’t do this. This is not a facility open to public use any more than any other facility at a school normally is. Pestering the leaders of Mt. Edgecumbe High School about the use of a pool that they never asked to receive is not only obnoxious, but also pointless. If you want to do something constructive related to this new facility, start writing letters to legislators asking for it to be well-staffed.
Stephen Courtright, Sitka
