Unless costly repairs are made, patrons of the Duncan Park Pool may have to find somewhere else to cool off this summer. In August, the Natchez Recreation Council asked the board of aldermen to close the pool until repairs could bring it in compliance with national standards.

The council’s recommendation followed inspections performed by Blankenstein’s Supplies and Equipment. Based on the his findings, Vice President Don Blankenstein placed the city on written notice on June 1, 2000 – the first day of the swim season.

According to his report, problems with the pool’s circulation and filter system and the surface skimmer system – which removes hair, oil and body secretions from the water surface – may create potential health hazards for swimmers.

Though he doesn’t want to be the &uot;bad guy,&uot; Blankenstein said he feels &uot;obligated for professional and moral reasons when I see something that doesn’t meet standards.&uot;

Unlike many other states, the Mississippi State Health Department does not inspect and condemn unsafe public swimming pools. Local governing bodies, in this case the city, are responsible for monitoring their own facilities for hazardous health conditions. Blankenstein used guidelines laid out by the National Spa and Pool Institute, which are widely recognized in liability courts.

Ralph Tedder, recreation department director, said this week that the mayor and aldermen accepted the council’s recommendation in executive session, but postponed taking action at the time.

But the mechanical problems are just part of the picture. Time (the pool was built in 1949), weather and a long period of disuse have left the pool plagued with cracks.

Since 1980, the city has spent $164,275 on five separate attempts to repair the cracks, which leaked $140 worth of water a day last summer.

&uot;I know (the pool) means a lot to people,&uot; Tedder said. &uot;But that doesn’t mean it’s going to continue to be in the same condition as it was 50 years ago.&uot;

Rather than continue what Tedder believes to be a losing battle again this summer, he plans to advise the board of aldermen to close the pool and put the money it would spend on a temporary repair toward a new facility, ideally a year-round indoor swimming facility built in cooperation with the Natchez-Adams School District and Adams County.

&uot;Our citizens deserve more than a worn-out 50-year-old substandard pool,&uot; he said. &uot;It is also going to be essential that the county becomes equally involved in providing this community service.&uot;

A new pool could be constructed for about $1.5 million, but Tedder will lobby for a indoor pool complex, one that could serve city and county residents, as well as students, year-round for $3 million.

Another alternative would be to allow city and county residents to vote on whether they wanted to add a recreation tax to be put toward construction of a sports complex – tentatively named the Saint Catherine Village Sports Complex – between Natchez High School and U.S. 61 North, Tedder said.

Ward 1 Alderwoman Joyce Arceneaux said she wants the state to build a water park, similar to the one at Roosevelt State Park, at Natchez State Park. She sees the waterpark as a &uot;stop-gap measure&uot; between the city closing Duncan Park Pool and eventual construction of the St. Catherine Village Complex. &uot;We’re going to have to do something for recreation,&uot; she said.

But Arceneaux said she doesn’t know whether the board will choose to close the pool this summer and wants to wait on the recreation board’s recommendation. &uot;That pool is in trouble; we knew that two years ago,&uot; she said. &uot;I don’t know where we are in the possibility of opening the pool this year.&uot;

&uot;If it’s a health hazard, we can’t open it,&uot; Ward 3 Alderman Theodore &uot;Bubber&uot; West said. &uot;But it’s too premature to say we will or we won’t. … I would like to see the kids have a place to swim.&uot;