Friends of Dallas Aquatic Center report repairs, fundraiser progress; city to cover major repairs

At the March 17 Dallas City Council meeting Anne Hurd spoke during public comment on behalf of the Friends of the Dallas Aquatic Center, reporting progress on repairs and fundraising to restore and maintain pool facilities.

Hurd said the Friends are paying $9,000 to replace a leaking check valve that has been diverting city water into the pool; the valve replacement was scheduled for May 20. She said the group hopes to raise about $15,000 to cover replacement of sand filters and that one boiler issue is a smaller repair than a full boiler replacement previously discussed. Hurd also said the kiddie pool has been cold for several months but that heat-exchanger work and boiler repairs planned by the city will address that problem.

Hurd thanked City Attorney Lane Shetterly for the group’s legal assistance in forming the nonprofit and cited recent local media coverage highlighting the Friends’ role. City staff earlier in the meeting noted that some aquatic-center revenue and operating-hour changes have contributed to increased program revenue this fiscal year; finance staff included a $70,000 personnel-related revenue increase for the aquatic center in the supplemental budget adopted later in the meeting.

Hurd asked the council to read the recent local article about the Friends’ efforts and provided a brief update on specific repair timing and fundraising needs. No formal council action was taken on the pool during public comment; the supplemental budget adopted later included funding and revenue adjustments for the aquatic center.