It should come as no surprise to most of you out there-that the town of Cheshire MUST MAKE A FINAL DECISION on this Community Pool A.S.A.P.
The economy IS NOT GETTING BETTER-the TAXPAYERS ARE MAXED OUT-The FEES CANNOT BE RAISED ANY MORE THAN THEY ARE NOW-WHY AM I ALWAYS WRITING IN CAPS??
Several weeks ago, during budget season, Town Council member Jim Sima had asked Town Manager Michael Milone for information on the possibility of our community four season pool becoming a one season operation.
Of course, the Town Manager did not provide Mr.Sima with the info because he was in the middle of the budget season.
BUT, now that the budget has been passed, it really is time for Cheshire, and many other municipalities to face reality,
You have to understand, what you see and hear the TV media say is not reality for most people. JOBS ARE GONE!!
Yes, you can get a job, but 99 percent of the time, it is not what you had before you were laid off. Some people are luckier than others, but for the majority-the party is OVER (at least for a long long time).
And you have to understand, everything is still status quo-we have extended unemployment benefits and the stimulus packages.
But WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THESE THINGS END??
So before the perverbial waste product hits the perverbial cooling device-I suggest, as I have many times, the Town start looking for an alternative to the four season Community Pool.
My spouse and I were going to knock on every door in Cheshire and ask for a dollar to fund the fireworks. We decided to get a table at stop and shop instead because of the $100 per person soliciting fee we would have to pay to collect money from people at their homes.
This probably would have worked. Who would not part with a dollar for a good cause?
But, think about it-the pool costs EACH household $40 a year and that does not include what the Board of Education kicks in.
How successful do you think we would be if we went door to door-nearly 10,000 households and asked them for $40 TO FUND THE POOL??
WE WOULD PROBABLY GET 10,000 doors SLAMMED IN OUR FACE!!
Make the Community Pool one season and strike up a deal with Elim Park which has a NICE INDOOR facility. OK maybe it isn’t an Olympic sized pool or is it? I don’t know-but anyway, strike up a deal with Elim Park to have our swim team and the other teams that use our Community Pool now for swim meets.
Even if the pool isn’t Olympic sized, that is OK.
I go to the Southington YMCA and I notice the Southington High School swim team does just fine using that facility!!
I know some communities are opting for these “Splash Parks” now. They claim it is cheaper to build and maintain and keeps people cool at the same time.
Of course, a splash park is NOT A SWIMMING POOL, but I remember three years ago, I went to the Cheshire Town Managers office with a photo I had taken of the Largo Community Pool in Largo Florida (where I have a condo). This pool is also ONE SEASON-it opens in April and closes on Labor Day.
This pool had a splash park and a waterslide. It was REALLY NICE and added to the enjoyment of the pool.
Click here for splash park photo
The Largo Community Pool also had a nice indoor eating pavilion (snack bar).
Click here for link to Google Maps
Then type in the box Highland Aquatic Family Center, Largo, Florida.
The aerial photo will show up-you can zoom in to see the facility.
In fact, my condo is RIGHT DOWN THE STREET ON EAST BAY DRIVE!!
But of course, this suggestion fell on deaf ears.
It’s too bad because Monroe had a community pool-outdoor-one season-that had fallen into disrepair-they spent the money several years ago, about the time we were constructing our show off pool, and they actually PUT IN A SPASH PARK!! It was a great success!!
If you remember my show:: Dangerous Intersections and the Pool, back in 2005, I did speak about a permanent snack bar addition to the pool which I believe AT THAT TIME, would have made an economic difference and added to the ambience of the facility-of which at present time-there is none.
That is why my son calls the Cheshire Community Pool-”The Soviet Swim Center”
BLAND BLAND BLAND-just like Cheshire-DULL AND BORING!!
Oh that cement wall really does it for me!! Doesn’t it make you just want to go more and more??
You know, when I am there at the pool, I sit in my chair after a long swim and count the lines and pockmarks in the concrete wall!! So relaxing!!
HELLO!! Could they have at least put some sort of mural there? DAMN!!
Anyway, for most of my infantile life, I have been obsessed with abandoned things-i.e.-abandoned houses, abandoned towns, abandoned cars, abandoned factories.
That is why I have been running those photos of Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport and Long Beach in Stratford where the cottages were.
Well, I have some new photos to show you-that a friend took this past March. I don’t like the music but what can I tell you-the photos are really good and up to date.
Little by little, most of these cottages are being destroyed by fire from vandals. I remember running into the Fire Chief in Cheshire not so long ago and we were speaking about Pleasure Beach. He told me he thought those cottages must have cost a fortune.
NOT SO!!
Maybe several thousand dollars to 12 or 15,000 dollars in the early seventies. Most of the people built them by hand and passed them down to their children.
This is why it is SUCH A SHAME!! I can and will never get over it-seeing such a vibrant community with such life and happiness-GONE!!
And speaking of abandoned-I am going to link you to a bunch of photos showing no other than:
ABANDONED MUNICIPAL POOLS!!
No, Cheshire is not in the photos YET!!
I took my daughter to University of Bridgeport because she was thinking of going to school there-I have a link to it under “Links” on the right hand side of the page-IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL THERE-EVEN STILL-IT IS RIGHT NEAR SEASIDE PARK-SO WONDERFUL.
I started to cry because I told my daughter how fun Bridgeport was when I was a kid.
All these places to go-Seaside Park to swim or hang out-or cruise around the beach-watch a baseball game-Beardsley Park Zoo-Pleasure Beach to ride the amusements-fish for snappers-go see a play at Polka Dot Playhouse-
you will see WHAT REMAINS of Polka Dot in the video I am running of Pleasure Beach-the photos with the stage and seats all torn up is the ORIGINAL POLKA DOT PLAYHOUSE-there is another one in Downtown Bridgeport.
We would spend so much time downtown at the arcade or at Crystal Palace to play pinball or the arcade games-we would eat at Pjuras Steakhouse or have softshelled crabs-we would go to Maraczi’s Hamburger Stand- we would go to the Candellite Pix Drive in theatre on Friday and Saturday night to watch a movie-we would go roller skating at the “Mosque” on State Street–so many good times.
The point is: it doesn’t TAKE MUCH-to see a town or city SWING in the opposite direction-the right economic conditions-and things either take a turn for the better or for the worse-this is something we must keep in our minds here in Cheshire and everywhere for that matter.
