Residents, seniors and service providers urge Assembly to keep Mary Tsai Recreation Center open

Dozens of residents, nonprofit volunteers and health providers urged the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly on Thursday to keep Mary Tsai Recreation Center open, saying the small pool provides warm-water therapy, accessible changing rooms and community services not available at other borough pools.

Speakers at the public hearing said the center’s pool temperature, hot tub and private changing areas make it uniquely suited for seniors, people with mobility impairments, therapeutic swim programs and special-needs instruction. “Swimming is the only thing that can keep any muscle I have,” caller Mary Shields said of her regular visits. Several residents described long personal histories with the facility and said staff know patrons’ health needs.

Assembly members had scheduled a public hearing on the borough’s proposed 2025–26 budget (Ordinance 2025-20). Testimony on Mary Tsai was part of a broad public-comment period on the budget and related service-level choices.

Advocates described services that would be difficult to move if Mary Tsai closed: adaptive lessons and water-walking classes, senior aquacise, and warm-water therapeutic time used by people recovering from injury and by veterans. “Do not close Mary’s Side,” Deborah Ryan said. Residents emphasized that the university pool and other borough pools have different temperatures and configurations that make them poor substitutes for Mary Tsai’s clientele.

Speakers also questioned the borough’s process and timeline. Several said the facility had been the subject of previous closure threats and that there was not a clear replacement plan. Mark Olmixon, chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission and director of Nanook Recreation at UAF, told the assembly that if Mary Tsai were closed the borough would still need to provide the same services elsewhere and that UAF’s pool could not fill the gap; UAF’s pool is set at a lower temperature and will undergo deferred maintenance that will close it for several months in 2026.

Assembly members and several testifiers cited cost figures discussed during the meeting: one assembly member said keeping Mary Tsai open would require roughly $85,000 in subsidy and that closure could cost about $106,000 once revenue losses and transition costs were counted. Witnesses pointed out those numbers were circulating in the meeting but questioned how they had been calculated and asked for a fuller cost and mitigation analysis before any final decision.

Those who testified included longtime users, health professionals and volunteers who said Mary Tsai supports public-health goals such as fall prevention, chronic-condition management and opportunities for social connection. Several speakers suggested short-term options, including keeping the building in “warm storage,” expanding hours where lifeguard availability allows, and pursuing community fundraising to cover modest operating shortfalls.

The assembly did not act on Mary Tsai during the meeting. The budget public hearing is part of the assembly’s schedule leading to final action at a future session. Mayor Hopkins and staff reminded the public that the Assembly will reconvene May 8 to continue budget work and that amendments to the proposed ordinance should be filed with clerks in advance.

Residents requested clearer financial detail and a replacement plan before the assembly finalizes any closure. In response, assembly members said they would seek more precise operating and closure-cost breakdowns from Parks and Recreation and administration prior to any final vote.