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Parents, swim officials press Edmond leaders for faster fix to Mitch Park pool cooling
Summary
Citizens and swim officials told council that recurring HVAC failures at the Mitch Park Aquatic Center are forcing event relocations, hurting local revenue and creating unsafe conditions; council directed staff to bring a funding plan for rooftop HVAC units in August.
Citizens and swim officials urged the Edmond City Council to move quickly on repairs at the Mitch Park Aquatic Center after repeated air-conditioning failures forced regional swim events to move and left spectators and athletes working in sweltering conditions.
At the start of the meeting, a resident identified on the record as Snookal Meredith said the Oklahoma Swimming Association no longer uses Mitch Park because of ongoing air-conditioning issues and estimated a recent weekend away cost her family more than $2,500 in lodging, dining and local purchases. "The Oklahoma Swimming Association no longer uses Mitch Park because of its ongoing air conditioning issues," Meredith said. Dr. Jeremy Turner, a swim official and parent, said the system has been unreliable for years and asked the council to insist on a permanent fix: "Please make sure that the problem is addressed with a permanent solution," he said.
City staff and the YMCA, which partners on operations at the facility, told the council recent temporary measures did not solve the problem. City Manager Krieger said staff and YMCA partners have proposed installing rooftop HVAC units as an interim 10–15 year solution and that an item to fund the units should be brought back to council in August. "We implemented some temporary measures that we thought would be more effective. It turns out they haven't been," the city manager said, adding staff expects to present a funding request in the August meetings.
Council members pressed staff on responsibilities and cost sharing among the three partners (city, YMCA and Edmond Public Schools). The mayor said the city would commit up to $200,000 or 50% as appropriate and expects the other partners to contribute; council directed staff to return with a concrete funding and implementation item at the August 10 or August 24 meeting.
The discussion closed with council members emphasizing the pool's regional economic value: council members noted Edmond is one of only two Oklahoma venues that can host certain competitive swim meets and that recurring outages threaten both community programming and sports-tourism revenue.
