By Jackie Seabolt
Enterprise Record

COOLEEMEE – Residents here are continuing their efforts to open the town swimming pool, despite estimated costs of $300,000.
At the Feb. 20 meeting of the town board a presentation showing preliminary sketches of a renovated pool at the Zachary House took place. Sandra Ferrell with the Cooleemee Recreation Department told the board plans were to fill in the existing pool with rock and have a five-foot deep structure with water features that would accommodate 250 occupants.
Ferrell said that the estimated cost of the project would be between $280,000 and $300,000, but that quote did not include the cost of the water features or renovations on the existing bath house.
“If we can get everything from grants and county support in the next 12 months it could be there,” Commissioner Chris Branham said.
Ferrell said the pool sketches were done by Signature Aquatics of Greensboro and two other pools were looked at as models for Cooleemee – in Landis and Statesville.
Branham suggested the community needed to give input on the plans for Cooleemee’s future pool. “That way we can know what they’re looking at and the community can add more specifics.”
Ferrell told the board the pools in Landis and Statesville are operated differently – one is run by an outside source and the other is run by the town.
“It would cost around $30,000 a year to have a company come in and maintain our pool,” Ferrell said.
“To me the success of this pool is going to be with marketing,” Mayor Lynn Rumley said. “This would be an aquatic center for the county.”
Rumley advised Ferrell to obtain quotes on renovations for the bathhouse and report back to the board.
“I think it’s a wonderful idea and we need to …