Kennewick needs a new pool, but it must get the details right | Editorial

Generations of children and adults learned to swim at Kennewick’s Kenneth Serier Memorial Pool and splashed in its water on hot summer days. Those days are numbered, however. The question is not whether to replace the pool but how to do so wisely and affordably.

City staff have warned that the pool could fail in the next few years. Dedicated maintenance staff can only prevent devastating leaks and other catastrophes for so much longer.

The Serier pool opened in 1955 and was last renovated in 1987. Seventy years is a good run for an outdoor pool, 30 years more than the average.

Kennewick needs to get to work on a replacement. A public pool is a community amenity like a park or a soccer field. It provides low-impact exercise for seniors, rehabilitation opportunities for people who have been injured, water safety and swimming education and a place to train for competition, all without the membership fees of a private facility.

Local swim coaches have ideas about what the new pool should look like. They and parents have lobbied the city to build an indoor facility that could host competitions and suggest combining it with the upcoming city hall replacement project.

Their bold vision is appealing, but the city should proceed cautiously. Less-expensive options are worth considering.

A 2024 recreation facilities feasibility study found that a pool replacement on the current site with a new pool house would cost an estimated $12 million.

A full-scale, 23,000-square-foot indoor aquatic facility like the one that the coaches envision would cost almost twice as much. That might even be optimistic. Pasco is spending $40 million on its new aquatic center.

Kennewick is already considering spending $36 million to replace its 60-year-old city hall. If it also goes with the more expensive aquatics option, it would leave little debt capacity for unexpected future expenses.

As it stands now, after accounting for other high-priority projects like Fire Station 6 and the convention center, only $69 million of debt capacity is available.

According to a 2025 National Recreation and Park Association report, only a quarter of similarly sized cities nationwide have an indoor aquatics center. That includes communities in places where the outdoor season is longer than four months, but even so, an indoor pool is something of a luxury in a city the size of Kennewick.

There is no denying that an indoor pool would be nice for Tri-Cities’ winters. It also would spread demand for swimming lessons over the year rather than concentrate them in the narrow summer window. The city should weigh those benefits when considering its options.

In fact, a recreation-focused approach could offer the most benefit per dollar.

A competition pool is more expensive, and there is reason to doubt that it could recoup the additional cost. A 2024 feasibility study found that competitive swim events are “less frequent, exhibit lower nonlocal draw, and generate reduced returns relative to their substantial overhead facility costs.”

For example, last fall’s Mid-Columbia Invite attracted nearly 400 swimmers and an estimated $20,000 in local spending. The city recouped only a portion of that through tax revenue.

A well-designed leisure and instructional facility open all year would serve the broadest crosssection of the community.

Location also is an important factor. The current pool site has appeal because it is already dedicated to public recreation and would not require buying new land. Connecting the pool to the city hall complex, as swim coaches suggested, risks using undeveloped acreage around the civic center that the city could hold in reserve for future civic expansion.

Linking the projects also risks mission creep on a significant public project.

The council is divided on whether city hall should even remain downtown. Adding an aquatics component to the debate would further complicate an already contentious decision.

The Kennewick City Council should not allow the enthusiasm of the competitive swimming community to sweep them up. Clear-eyed analysis is essential. The Serier pool’s replacement must fit within the city’s budget and serve the city’s families, ensuring that there is a place where everyone can swim.