Talk of the Town - Whitley County

By Jennifer Zartman Romano

The future of the more than 60-year-old Burnworth Memorial Pool will be charted over the course of the next several weeks with the formation of a special committee.
The public pool, located in Columbia City near Columbia City High School, continues to age and deteriorate, causing the Columbia City Parks Department to take a closer look at the issues and appoint a committee to investigate the pool's future. Committee members include Timothy Dillingham, Trudy Miller-Longhenry, Megan Devito, Kelley Sheiss, Mindy Muchow, Mauri Bordner, Jennifer Zartman Romano, Phil Stanczak and Mark Green.
The committee has been meeting since May and took an eye-opening tour of the facility recently as part of the process.
"Please understand that no decisions have been made about building a new pool in Columbia City," said Columbia City Parks Department director Mark Green. Green's office is responsible for the daily operations of the pool and he is also serving on the committee.
Currently, the pool is in need of a new liner which is estimated to cost approximately $250,000.  Renovations are needed on the locker room area and improvements are required in pool well/control room. Additionally, the kiddie pool needs replaced.
"The pool loses an estimated $10,000 to $20,000 each year," according to Green.
The Columbia City Parks Board voted to not open the kiddie pool at Burnworth Memorial Pool during a meeting this spring. Board members were informed that the kiddie pool has continued to leak each day and was a continual drain on the budget last year. During the summer, they will begin some exploration of the area under the pool to determine the cause of the leak and a plan of action to address it.
In the meantime, the pool committee is looking forward to collecting community comments about the future of the pool complex.
A survey has been created to collect community perspectives on the Burnworth Memorial Pool and seek ideas. To access the survey, click here.