TANGLEWILDE, Wash. — "It's muggy and terrible," that is how 14-year-old Dylan Karras described Tuesday's weather in Tanglewilde near Lacey. For 50 years, the usual solution to beat the heat in Tanglewilde has been to grab the family and jump into the refreshing water of the Tanglewilde pool.
This year, however members of the community narrowly rejected a pool operations levy so for the first time in five decades the summer heat is on and the pool is closed.
"It's really depressing and makes me want to cry," said Keagan Gallivan, who usually spends most of her summer days in the pool. Keagan's mother Linda is the pool manager and says with hot days it was hard telling neighborhood kids they would not have a place to swim. "You just see their faces go blank and you are like, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," said Gallivan.
Community members will have another chance to pass the levy in two weeks, but even if the levy is passed there is too much work to do now to get the pool open this summer.
Farther south in Tenino, 14-year-old Spencer Hunt spent part of his Tuesday hitting a Whiffle ball in the park instead of swimming because the Tenino Quarry pool is also closed.
Tenino Public Works director Dave Defoe says it's a budget issue. "There just isn't enough money to go around."
But the Public works director say community members have raised $7,500 enough to open the pool in two weeks in time for the city's annual Oregon Trail Days celebration.
As he hit another Whiffle ball on the hot and muggy day, Spencer Hunt said having the pool open in two weeks is better than nothing but it sure didn't help him cool off today, saying "It's supposed to be really hot and I was really disappointed the pool wasn't going to be opened."
KIRO
