Located next to one of the most popular playgrounds in the City of Seattle, the wading pool at Powell Barnett Park provides no-fee access to shallow water play and relief from summer heat for our community’s children. Sadly, the wading pool has been closed for the last two summers and is slated to remain closed for the Summer of 2011 because of continued budget cuts. To address the situation, Seattle Parks and Recreation has announced they are looking for Sponsors/Partners to help fund the operation of the pools the summer.
We need to raise $13,200 by MAY 1, 2011 to open the pool from 12 – 7pm, three days/week this July and August. Make a donation today to help open the pool:
1. From your PayPal account/Credit Card: Click on http://goo.gl/isSBj or copy and paste it into your browser.
2. By check made out to: Leschi Community Council, with the note “Powell Barnett Wading Pool”. Mail to: Leschi Community Council, PO Box 22391, Seattle, WA 98122.
3. Pledge to donate by May 1 by sending an email to [email protected].
This campaign by local parents and community members is a Special Project of the Leschi Community Council (a 501(c)(3) registered non-profi t) and is supported by the Central Seattle Parent Resource group and the Madrona Community Council. For questions or to volunteer, contact Melissa at [email protected] or visit the pool’s Facebook page.
Don’t let another summer go by without our wading pool in Powell Barnett Park!
I would prefer to get funding for Peppi’s Park I think it would be better.
This would be great! I remember playing in that pool when I was a kid.
But Peppi’s is a far better venue
Why!?
we decided to focus our efforts on getting at least one wading pool in our neighborhood open this summer. Why Powell Barnett? Visitor numbers are higher overall at Powell Barnett (which is important to the Parks Department in deciding which pools get funding) and the park itself offers more amenities for the whole family (multi-age play areas, basketball courts, BBQs) making it a complete summer destination when the wading pool is open. Please show your support for this important neighborhood amenity and make a donation today!
$13,200 for about 27 days? I think having the wading pool is a great idea, but why does it cost so much to fill a concrete puddle with water?
…is the number given by Seattle Parks and Recreation (see the first link in the story above). It works out to an average of $300 for water provision & drainage ($14.31 CCF is the summer rate I was quoted – one CCF=748 gallons), $150 for staffing (7 hours open, plus around an hour on either end to fill and drain the pool etc), and $100 for chemicals/maintenance (since the pool has to meet Health and Safety standards).
The pool at Powell Barnett holds 22,000 gallons, but it is only filled to around 14,000 gallons on most days to save water/$. Investing in cisterns to store water so it could be filtered/cleaned and then reused would make the pools sustainable (financially and environmentally) for the long term, but for this year we are focusing on getting the pool open so the city knows it is important to our community and so we can build support for a long term solution.