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Private donations will keep two Omaha city pools open for another week.
Former Omaha City Council member Jim Vokal announced this morning that his political action committee had raised $4,500 to pay for lifeguards and other employees to staff the Elmwood pool in mid-town, just east of the University of Nebraska at Omaha campus.
At mid-day, the Burlington Road Neighborhood Association announced it also had raised $4,500, enought to keep the Hitchcock pool at 5005 S. 45th St. open through Aug. 9, the regularly scheduled closing date.
Two weeks ago, Mayor Jim Suttle announced eight city pools would close for the season Sunday, instead of Aug. 9, to help save money from the city's 2009 budget. The mayor is dealing with a $14 million shortfall in this year's budget.
The rest of the city's pools were already scheduled to close Sunday.
The city set up a deadline of 2 p.m. Wednesday for any of the eight pools to raise enough funds to stay open. An effort also is under way to keep Hitchcock Pool open.
Vokal released a list of a dozen donors who will fund Elmwood's pool at 606 S. Happy Hollow Blvd. The list includes two former City Council members — Vokal and Dan Welch — as well as former state senator Pat Bourne.
Vokal, chairman of the Omaha Moving Ahead Political Action Committee, said his family goes to the Elmwood pool “on a daily basis” and that he “feels great” about helping to keep it open.
“I started making calls (Monday) morning about 8 a.m. and by 3:30 p.m. we had enough money,” Vokal said.
Vokal said credit also goes to Joe Craig, an Omaha businessman who led a protest group of young swimmers down to City Hall last week. The group was invited up to the mayor's office where they learned that they could keep Elmwood open if enough money was raised.
“It was an amazing thing to go from all the kids outside the mayor's office last week to learning we have the money to keep the pool open,” Craig said. “This shows we have great people in a great neighborhood and that's what made this happen.
“The bummer is that it's not happening all over the city.”
Ron Gerard, the mayor's spokesman, said the administration was delighted to hear that the Elmwood pool would remain open.
“It's fantastic to see our citizens step up and do the work they've done,” Gerard said. “We think this is great news.”
The one possible cloud to the pools' happy ending - next week's weather.
Dave Eastlack, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Valley, Neb., said next week's forecast is for a continuation of below normal temperatures in the low 80s.
Contact the writer:
444-1272, kevin.cole@owh.com
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