Evergreen State College pool is a community resource for Olympia | Opinion

If you care about children, recreational opportunities, public safety and a well resourced community, Olympia’s only public pool should be at the top of your talking points this spring.

We live in a community surrounded by water, and we have fewer pools in 2026 than we did 20 years ago. Without the Evergreen State College (TESC) Pool, Thurston County could become one of the few counties in the state (and nation) that does not have a publicly operated pool.

This pool was built in the 1970s with state tax dollars and was envisioned as a community space. At that time there was a real connection to the community (ask around, and I am sure you will meet someone who learned to swim there). The college had a contract with Swim America for learn-to-swim programs offered to the community at large. Today, it is the home pool for four local high school swim teams.

The pool was just reopened to the public last year with a newly blossoming revamp of aquatic offerings and showcasing recent deferred maintenance investments supported by our legislature and our tax dollars. So why has the TESC administration so suddenly changed its mind and announced closing the pool completely?

TESC announced in March of this year that the pool will close on June 6th due to budget cuts and looming $60,000 repair. Local school districts and government entities were willing to step up to explore collaboration and offered to pay the initial $60,000 cost. But Evergreen quickly escalated the costs citing all remaining long-term repairs needed and dissuaded the cities, county, school districts and port from any further conversations about collaboration.

TESC is a State institution and our tax dollars are already invested in this facility that is now slated to close. The legislature has allocated millions of dollars in recent years to fix parts of the TESC pool. The pool deck, roof and diving board are new. We have already invested in this facility. Why should we walk away? If you drain a pool it is gone forever. There is no coming back from this planned closure.

Local city managers and politicians want a regional aquatics center, a vision that I support. However, this vision would need a location, a design and a vote of the people in multiple jurisdictions to get off the ground. Currently, no price tag exists but would likely run $75-$100 million. Most importantly, it is at least five and likely more years away until there is a new facility for the community. We need Evergreen’s pool to serve as a bridge to any future plans.

Leaving us without a pool is not an option while we risk losing another generation of swimmers in our community. It negatively impacts families who already lack access to swim lessons. It creates a deficit environment for training lifeguards and water safety instructors. It leaves our young people with even fewer indoor recreational opportunities. Shuttering a local resource does not build the momentum needed to launch a campaign for the “regional aquatic center.’ Instead, if the Evergreen pool closes it shows the community that collaboration is too hard, wise use of tax dollars is unimportant, and a well resourced community is not a priority.

Please spend a few minutes this spring urging your local leaders to build a well resourced community. Ask them to save the Evergreen pool as a bridge to a regional aquatics center.

Joellen Wilhelm has called Olympia home since 2004. She graduated from TESC in 2007 with an MPA and has worked in nonprofits, and consulted for local agencies and tribes. She served as an Olympia School Board Director from 2015-2019 and is an active Kiwanian.