Goodmans to donate $2 million for city pool
11:12 PM 6/24/04
Dean Mosiman Wisconsin State Journal

Making a cannonball splash, former jewelers Irwin and Robert Goodman will donate $2 million to help Madison build its first public swimming pool. <

The city, with lake quality concerns and shrinking beach attendance, has been dreaming about and debating a public pool for decades while envying neighbors who have them. <

But the city may now break ground next summer for its own pool. <

"One of my key priorities for my first term as mayor is to build a public pool that all Madisonians can enjoy," Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said Thursday in announcing the donation. "Now, thanks to this latest gift topping decades of generosity shown towards our city by the Goodmans, this goal becomes much more attainable." <

The Goodman brothers, who operated a jewelry store at 220 State St. from 1933 until they sold it in 1998, said they have been concerned about the city's lack of a pool to provide fun and promote health. <

"This is a necessity," Robert Goodman said. "I think every great city should have a great city pool. We think it's going to be a wonderful facility, and we hope people will make good use if it and enjoy it." <

Resident Susanne Treiber, who was strolling Capitol Square with her young children Gretta, Luke and Paul, said she was surprised the city had no pool when she moved here from Indiana. She is delighted by the gift. <

"I think it's great," she said. "We will definitely use it." <

The brothers have already provided help to more than 60 groups, including orchestras, hospitals, churches, arts groups and more, including the 154-acre Irwin A. and Robert D. Goodman Jewish Community Campus with aquatic center in the town of Verona and UW-Madison's Goodman Diamond softball stadium. <

The pool, which will have slides, a wading area and likely be suitable for swim meets, will be named for the Goodmans and cost from $2.5 million to $3 million, Cieslewicz said. <

The city will cover the expense beyond the Goodman gift with a combination of public money and fund raising, he said, vowing $500,000 for the project in the 2005 capital budget, which needs City Council approval. <

It can cost about $200,000 annually to operate a pool. Most of the expense will be offset by revenues, mayoral spokeswoman Melanie Conklin predicted. <

Cieslewicz announced the appointment of Nino Amato - board president of the Wisconsin Technical College System, chairman of the city's former Task Force on Race Relations and a friend of the Goodmans - to lead a reinvigorated Swimming Pool Committee to explore size, design, location and more. <

Said resident Anne Bogar: "Given all of the environmental concerns with the lakes, a swimming pool is a great option." <

Due to water quality concerns, closures and other reasons, annual beach attendance has plunged to about 50,000 users from peaks of 250,000 users in the late 1980s, according to Parks Division Superintendent Jim Morgan. <

Although the pool is a priority, the mayor remains committed to improving the lake quality, Conklin said. <

The city has flirted with the idea of a swimming pool before. <

In 1992, residents voted 34,395 to 21,599 to reject a pool at Olin-Turville Park on John Nolen Drive. The vote, however, was partly the result of environmental concerns. <

In the late 1990s, swimming enthusiasts promoted a public-private partnership to build a facility at Warner Park, and in late 2002, then Mayor Sue Bauman proposed a special committee and spending $10,000 to study building up to four pools. <

The money was approved, but the initiative waned amid the spring 2003 elections, won by Cieslewicz. <

In his first budget, Cieslewicz promised to revive the committee and proposed spending $4.5 million to build pools in 2006 and 2008. But there were questions about financing. <

The city, which is studying municipal pools in Columbus and other communities, will use the Goodman gift to build a pool on public land and make sure it's close to concentrations of children and accessible to bus service, Cieslewicz and Conklin said. <

The pool won't be delayed by squabbles over location, the mayor said. <

"We're committed to getting this done," he said. Contact Dean Mosiman at dmosiman@madison.com or 252-6141.