Recurring issues at the Garnett pool has the attention of the Garnett City Commission. Commissioner Mark Locke invited Garnett Parks and Recreation Director, Phil Bures, to a recent meeting for an update on the facility’s status. Bures offered a staff report last December outlining an estimate he’d had made of replacing the pool, which at the time ran in the neighborhood of $2.5-$3.5 million. Bures says the pool is at the end of its life and will need to be replaced in the future and at some point there was going to be a major repair needed.
Locke says he is not in favor of a new pool, stating there are more important things the city is dealing with. Bures says he knows the city can’t afford a new pool but… the vocal public demand and the physical state of the facility were undeniable, adding it was not a matter of “if”, but “when” the pool will fail and he says a little prayer every year when he fires up the pumps.
The pool was constructed as part of the Works Projects Administration during the Great Depression of the mid 1930s
