Community shouldn't lose GCC pool

To the Editor:

When the “Community is taken out of our Gogebic Community College, the college is going to start running into problems. Why alienate the residents of Gogebic County?

Gogebic County residents pay 2.8 mills on taxable value of our homes towards operating costs for Gogebic Community College. If the college does not have the backing of the community, next time the college needs money, maybe we should say “no.”

The Lindquist Center pool has been operating for 22 years. The community should have been made aware that there are problems. What took so long?

The pool at the college was supposed to be for the “community.” It was built with donations from the “community.”

The pool was never marketed correctly in the first place. Someone was to actually go out into the community and get memberships.

Area businesses should be contacted.

Grand View Hospital has a wellness program, the Veterans Administration has a wellness program.

Silver Sneakers, through Blue Cross Blue Shield, has a wellness program. The college should have a wellness program. How about selling pool passes to the motels?

We have an aging population with arthritis. What is better for them than swimming? Especially when someone has a joint replaced, hydrotherapy is the best thing to do to get moving again.

Snowflake Aquatics and the Barracuda Swim team and other concerned citizens are meeting with the college board of trustees. Couldn’t they form a committee to come up with a viable plan to market and sell passes?

The trustees should take a look at other programs that are not doing well. How is the Ski Area Management course doing and Mt. Zion Ski Hill revenues? There are many places to ski and get training, but not many places for the public to swim.

Commendations to Snowflake Aquatics and the Barracuda Swim team for working so hard to keep the swimming pool and the program afloat.

Lynn Adams

Ironwood