Johnson City pool closure leaves competitive swimmers without a home — and a community fighting back

With less than two weeks until the city closes Freedom Hall Pool for good, Johnson City's competitive swimming community still has hope for better options. "I'm very hopeful that the school board and the city council can come to an agreement to not just abandon this place but maybe make a better pool for generations after me," Conor Lilley, a member of the Science Hill High School (SHHS) swim team said. Lilley, 17, swims competitively for both Science Hill and Barracuda Swim Club (BSC). He swims anywhere from two to four hours a day, six days a week. He's been swimming competitively for 10 years and much of that time has been spent at Freedom Hall Pool. "Pretty much every day except Sunday," Lilley said. "We practice a lot, but I think it's really necessary, as shown by our records." The team has sent several swimmers to state championship meets over the years. This season, Lilley placed first at the regional conference in both the 500-yard and 200-yard freestyle races and competed at the state championship meet. Lilley said he's disappointed in city leadership's lack of communication about the pool's status and potential closure. He specifically referenced comments made at the March 5 commission meeting by Mayor Greg Cox, who said he remembers discussion of the pool "not being in great shape" when he was attending Science Hill High School over a decade ago. "We didn't have very much warning at all. I feel like if they knew back in 2002 and they could have warned us more than a month before the pool closed that it was bad," Liley said. "I was baffled by the fact that they didn't try to address the problem before it became what it is now." Chris Coraggio, longtime swim coach for both SHHS and BSC also said he wishes the city had communicated better about the closure. "None of us were informed of that decision until Feb. 27," Coraggio said. "Why didn't somebody who knew what the plan was reach out and say, 'Hey, look, here it is November — five months down the road, we're going to shut down Freedom Hall pool'?" An aquatics feasibility report completed in November was not posted publicly to the city's website until March. Findings in the report say that structural issues underneath Freedom Hall Pool pose "immediate risks to the pool's safety and functionality." "Whoever made that decision thought it was important to keep it a secret instead of giving those of us who care about the kids and care about trying to keep their program viable five months to research and to plan and to find a solution," Coraggio said. Since the closure announcement, Coraggio has formed a task force of eight community members to advocate for transparency and better course of action from the city. He said he and other task force members have already began discussions with members of the city school board, city commission and city staff. On Friday, Coraggio sent an open letter to commissioners calling for a joint work session between the school board and city commission before their next meetings in hopes to eventual create a more comprehensive solution to the closure. "I hope that we can find a short-term solution to maintain adequate programming for aquatics," Coraggio said. "Eventually I would like to see, and it may have to be in phases, a first-class aquatic facility here in Johnson City that meets the needs of the competitive community." "Hopefully, if nothing else, the angst we're going through now will spur the commission and the city to stop doing the talk and start doing the implementation." While he said he's frustrated with how the city handled the closure announcement, Coraggio said he's appreciative of the extended Memorial Park Community Center hours and said city staff have been helpful. On Feb. 27, the city announced in a press release that the 52-year-old swimming pool would close its doors for good on April 3. The pool has been used by several local swim groups, including SHHS, BSC and Johnson City middle schools. Repairs to extend the pool's operational life between 8 to 10 years were estimated to cost nearly $750,000. According to the release, this level of investment was not considered appropriate, citing the pool's lack of certain competitive specifications. The city expanded access to Memorial Park Community Center by extending the pools operating hours to include Sundays to accommodate the swim groups' expected needs. However, Lilley, Coraggio and several other community members have said this is not a feasible solution given Freedom Hall's heavy usage. Other community efforts to advocate for a better city plan of action include a petition that now has over 2,500 signatures.