Friends of the Fremont Pool: October 2012

Monday, October 1, 2012

Commemoration in Review

Ten years of the Fremont Pool’s joint operation between the Fremont Union High School District and the City of Sunnyvale was commemorated at both City Hall and at the Fremont Union High School District office on September 18^th. In case you missed it here are some highlights and photos:

· * The pool was fully opened in in July 2002 following a grand opening on June 26, 2002,

· * This past summer, a spirited adult alumni water polo match marked the anniversary,

· * The pool now has programs in lap swimming, masters swimming, water exercise classes, both youth and adult water polo programs, both youth and adult lessons, recreational and diving team, a triathlete workout, swim teams, open swim, summer camps, misc. rentals, events, as well as the high school programs which include high school swim teams, high school water polo teams, special needs classes, and PE classes,

· Ricky Silva (CSC) began working in May 2002 and has worked a majority of the 10 years as the manager of the pool,

· * The participant hours for public programs has grown from 56,000 to over 171,000 hours from 2003 to 2011. This means that currently an average of 475 people visit the pool each day, not including rentals or high school use! (CSC statistic),

· * Over the past 10 years, over 100 FUHSD students have been employed at the pool. (CSC statistic),

· * The facility is used by all abilities, age groups and ethnic groups, from elite athletes to those learning to swim and from toddlers to youths to high school kids to adults and mature adults. Multiple languages are spoken at the pool.

· * Students who swam and trained at Fremont Pool and went on to swim for college teams. Colleges includes: Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, Fresno Pacific, Redlands, University of Arizona, Brown, ASU, & Foothill and De Anza Colleges.

A commemorative certificate was presented to both the President of the Board of the high school district and the Mayor of Sunnyvale. They read:

President of the Board of Trustees and Members of the Board of the Fremont Union High School District - In commemoration of 10 years of operations at the City of Sunnyvale Joint-use 50-meter Swimming Pool, (Fremont Pool), Sunnyvale swim patrons recognize aquatic facilities provided by the Fremont Union High School District and hold this partnership in high regard and look forward to its continuance

Honorable Mayor of Sunnyvale and Members of the Sunnyvale City Council - In commemoration of 10 years of operations at the City of Sunnyvale Joint-use 50-meter Swimming Pool, (Fremont Pool), Sunnyvale swim patrons recognize aquatic services provided through the City of Sunnyvale and hold this partnership in high regard and look forward to its continuance

Many thanks to the swimmers who came out and witnessed the occasion!

About Us

Announcement: The Fremont Pool re-opened for limited lap lane swim rentals on July 13, 2000, with Covid -19 restrictions and protocols. CSC gave up their contract; the City of Sunnyvale is running the pool.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fremont Pool was ordered closed on March 17, 2000. More news will follow.

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If you are returning to our organization, I would like to say, ‘Welcome Back’ and if this is your first time working with the group, ‘Welcome On Board’!

I would like to explain my objective in reforming the group and provide a little background for those who are unfamiliar with our project.

The History. Friends of the Fremont Pool was formed in 1999 when the City of Sunnyvale had an opportunity to partner with the Fremont Union High School District to build a 50-meter swimming pool at Fremont High School. Our group advocated for the pool and raised a substantial endowment for the City of Sunnyvale to reduce future operating subsidies. As you are aware, this program was successful, the pool was built, a partnership was formed and we all enjoy the benefits today.

For the most part, the City has handled the community’s interests in this pool by attending and participating in quarterly meetings with high school district personnel and CSC, managing the contract with California Sports Center, paying the high school district, reviewing annual rate changes, and handling inquiries from the public. Lately, there have been more inquiries from the public (me) than usual.

Additionally, the pool endowment, which we raised, is a substantial sum of money at $915,000. We are also expecting to receive proceeds from a bequest in the near future. With interest rates at a historic low, I am interested in investigating investment strategies for the endowment. And, our Trustee, Mary Bradley has retired so a new Trustee must be officially installed.

My Objective. Since it seems as though there has been a fairly brisk flow of questions, billing discrepancies, parking lot issues, etc, and since it seems as though this activity is increasing and because we should do some work in regards to the endowment, I decided to ask pool enthusiasts and interested parties to stay in contact with me.

Thus, Friends of the Fremont Pool is being reformed to have an engaged citizenship aware and communicating regarding some operational and financial issues for which we might want to provide organized input.

Finally, next June marks the tenth anniversary of the Fremont Pool. This is quite a reason for celebration and there may be some good times to be had that we can look forward to. Please stay tuned for more information on that front in the future.

Thank you very much! See you at the pool!

Holly Lofgren

Chairperson, Friends of the Fremont Pool