Aaron Davis vividly remembers the first time he saw the inside of the Oakesdale Public Swimming Pool building.

It was late 2020, and the five-year Oakesdale resident had just attended his first meeting of the Oakesdale Park and Recreation District committee. He agreed to take on primary responsibility for the facility. It was a cold, dark winter night, and the power in the pool building had been shut o, but he turned on his phone flashlight and opened the door.

“It was like walking into a haunted house,” he said.

Originally constructed in the 1920s, the building’s flat roof had leaked, so there were big holes in the drywall ceiling, chunks of wet drywall hung from the ceiling in other spots. The toilets sat like the teeth of a kid who needs braces thanks to the old sloped concrete doors. The breaker for the sump pump was tripped, and the basement was flooded with 3 feet of water.

“You have to remember that facilities like these are maintained by volunteer community members, who because money is tight or not there at all, are forced to come up with creative solutions to problems that arise,” he said. “But there comes a time and a place when you have to spend some money.”

A group of volunteers enlisted by Davis tackled some of the issues with the limited funds available from town coffers. The extent of the repairs still needed, however, was well beyond the budget available. Oakesdale Park & Red’s first attempt at winning a grant failed, but then Butch Lovelace from the Washington State Recreation and Conservation office suggested Davis contact Partners for Rural Washington Executive Director Jody Opheim. They worked together on a new application for state funds; last fall, the state awarded the full $140,000 requested plus 10 percent contingency.

“It would have been much more difficult without Jody’s help,” Davis said. “She had great advice and information about what to include and walked me through the entire process.”

Davis has found a contractor; work will begin in the spring to:

  • Repair and upgrade the existing maintenance access ramp to the building basement
  • Install steps in the pool to make it easier to enter and exit
  • Replace aged chlorine generator units
  • Replace damaged fencing and add a new access gate and
  • Construct a pad to install high efficiency heat pups to replace the existing diesel boiler

The good news is the pool should be open this summer.

“It is the focal point of the city of Oakesdale all summer long,” Davis said. “It’s where a lot of folks who live in Oakesdale spent their summers, and they want that for their kids.

He worries, though, about the long-term viability of keeping the pool. He estimated the pool brings in about $10,000 each summer in income, but maintaining and staffing it costs about $100,000 a season. “The (municipal) levy is keeping it open for now,” he said. “But how can a little town like Oakesdale manage in the long run? The levy allows the pool to operate, but major repairs and equipment replacement does not fall within that budget.”

Opheim credits Davis with the progress Oakesdale has already made on its swimming pool and said she looks forward to working with the community in the future.

“The progress to date is testimony to what a difference a small group of residents, led by the right spark plug, can accomplish,” she said. “PRWA is proud to be an ongoing partner with the community.”