Johnson City residents deserve a better answer

Having adequate aquatic facilities in Johnson City is about far more than swimming laps. Swimming is one of the few activities people can participate in from early childhood through advanced age. Toddlers learn life-saving water skills, young athletes compete, adults train in master's programs, and others rely on the water for low-impact exercise and therapy. A properly designed aquatic facility supports a wide range of programs: recreational swimming, swim lessons, competitive teams, masters swimming, water aerobics, aquatic therapy, springboard diving, scuba training, water safety instruction, kayak or canoe practice and more. These programs strengthen public health and community safety. For decades the Freedom Hall pool has been described as outdated and in need of replacement. If its closure is inevitable, the community deserves a clear plan for modern aquatic facilities that meet today's needs. The Memorial Park pool cannot absorb all these activities. It is simply not large enough to accommodate the additional demand while also serving the public. Other facilities are not viable substitutes. The pool once located in the basement of Munsey Methodist Church and open to the public closed decades ago. The ETSU Recreation Complex pool is not open to the public and cannot be used for competitions because it is not a regulation length pool. The Wellness Center pool is limited to members. Johnson City residents deserve a clear answer from city leadership: what is the plan to replace the aquatic capacity that will be lost when the Freedom Hall pool closes? A growing city like Johnson City should be expanding aquatic opportunities, not losing them. Susan Rollins Johnson City Community deserves better long-term planning The abrupt closure of the Freedom Hall pool, slated for April 3, 2026, is deeply disappointing for many in our community, myself included. Like many Johnson City residents, I spent countless hours there growing up. As a child, I attended birthday parties at the pool, later swam for the Barracudas, took scuba lessons, and even learned to kayak there on Tuesday evenings. Having access to a competition-sized indoor pool year-round has been vital for myself and countless others to pursue fitness, recreation, and community connection. What is most troubling is the apparent lack of proactive planning. A recent article noted that city officials had known since August that the pool would likely have to close. If the structural and operational issues at Freedom Hall have been evident for years, why has the city not already moved forward with planning and funding a replacement facility? Memorial Park is a nice pool, but it is inadequate for a community of this size. The Legion Street facility is aging and only open for a small portion of the year. For a city the size of Johnson City, losing our only year-round competition pool is a major loss. Our community deserves better foresight and long-term planning when it comes to recreational infrastructure, and should have an appropriately sized aquatic center to allow individuals and families to relax, work out, and learn new skills. Harriet Coggan Johnson City State House bills could create problems I can't believe how fast HB1711 and HB793 are moving along. These bills in the Tennessee legislature would limit access to K-12 education for many immigrant kids. They come with serious moral issues, face legal challenges, and go against the idea that every child in Tennessee deserves free public education from kindergarten to high school. The bills require reports on undocumented individuals to be sent to a central enforcement division regularly. They also want the finance department to figure out how much the state spends on services like education and healthcare for these individuals. The Immigration Research Initiative estimates that checking the status of all students would mean hiring and training around 934 school staff members—about half the number of school nurses in Tennessee. This could cost around $55 million in total. It's essential to recognize that this requirement won't only affect immigrants. Many students born in the U.S. may lack the documentation needed to prove their citizenship. Those most likely to face challenges in obtaining these documents include students born outside of hospitals, those experiencing unstable housing, survivors of domestic violence or natural disasters, and children from very low-income families. These bills will create fear and distrust in our schools and add unnecessary tasks for staff that don't align with our school district's mission. This impacts students who see classmates being singled out and puts extra pressure on teachers who are supposed to support and educate all their students. Children shouldn't have to deal with these adult problems. Mary Grace Wooten Jonesborough