PORT ANGELES — William Shore Memorial Pool is going to the dogs this Friday.
Before closing for a 10-month renovation, the Port Angeles pool will be open to four-legged friends for a “Doggie Swim” from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
“We’ve never done it,” pool Executive Director Steve Burke said Wednesday.
“It could be a horrible idea. We’re going to try it and see what it’s like.”
Humans can swim at the pool until 5 p.m. Friday, after which time the pool will be partially drained to give the dogs a wading area.
The cost of admission to the pool is $5.25 for adults, $3.50 for seniors and $3.25 for youth. There is no extra cost for dogs Friday.
“What better time to have that event, since obviously they’re not going to do it again,” said Michael Merideth, a member of the pool board and Port Angeles City Council, near the end of a four-hour council meeting Tuesday.
William Shore Memorial Pool is gearing up for a $16.5 million renovation that will add a children’s splash and play area, new locker rooms and a warm-water therapy pool.
The renovation is expected to take about 10 months.
Burke has said the pool district is working with the city and the state Department of Health on permits and he doesn’t anticipate any delays.
Voters approved the project by more than 70 percent in November 2017, allowing for local match money. The district also received grants from the state and the Clallam County Opportunity Fund.
The debt load increase, which expanded the district’s debt capacity by $3.5 million up to $10 million, gave the green light to a long-planned, 10,000-square-foot expansion and remodeling of the pool at 225 E. Fifth St.
The new pool will have a children’s splash and play area, new locker rooms, a warm-water therapy pool and other amenities, allowing the aquatic center to operate multiple programs at the same time.
The original plan was for the pool to stay open during construction by building in two phases. Burke announced in October that expanding in phases would increase costs by more than $750,000, so instead the pool will be closed while the work is done.
No date for the reopening has been set. Burke said Wednesday the goal is to complete the project in March.
The expansion will allow the pool to host after-school program onsite and expand the SPARK — Swim Play and Active Recreation for Kids — Squad program.
“SPARK Squad will be moving to other areas [during construction], and hopefully that goes well for them,” Merideth said.
“Hopefully the pool project goes well for them, also.”
Last Thursday, Peninsula Behavioral Health’s Horizon Center made a four-hour-long journey from the shadow of William Shore Memorial Pool to its new home on Eighth Street in Port Angeles.
The move was needed to make room for the pool’s westward expansion.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
