Texoma Gives: Keep Olney Beautiful
Keep Olney Beautiful knew that replacing the 70-year-old municipal swimming pool “someday” would be the crown jewel in its upgrade of Griffin Park. “Someday” came abruptly this summer when the pool developed dangerous cracks - and replacing it is now the centerpiece of the group’s Texoma Gives fundraising effort on Sept. 8, Mayor Rue Rogers said.
The city beautification group will join more than 150 other nonprofits to raise money for its causes during the 16-hour online giving event that goes from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sept. 8. KOB is accepting donations at www.texomagives.org/organizations/ keep-olney-beautiful. Mr. Rogers, who serves as KOB’s vice president, said the group began developing a plan shortly after the city had to shut down the pool for good, just days before it was scheduled to open in June. The group contacted swimming pool contractors in the metroplex and Wichita Falls to come up with a blueprint. They then searched for grants to help fund the project, which includes more than just a new pool and will probably cost north of $500,000, he said.
“The entire area has to be brought up to code; it is not compliant,” Mr. Rogers said. “It’s more than just the pool project, it’s the complex [bathrooms and concession stand] that has to be renovated.”
The group found a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant that “describes Olney, and I think we could put together a compelling case that this will improve our lives in Olney, Texas,” the mayor said. The USDA grant applies to small rural towns looking “to fix facilities used for community, public safety and health-care purposes.”
The program prioritizes communities of less than 5,000 residents or with median incomes below 60 percent of the statewide median income. The grant requires citizens to come up with matching funds or in-kind donations. Mr. Rogers hopes that Olney residents will give generously to get the new pool on track to open next summer.
“What we need to do on a fundraising basis is $400,000 to $500,000 maybe. That’s probably the pool alone and then we are going to have to knock down those buildings and tear out the pool,” he said. “We can do that on our own. The community was very supportive when we did the park renovation. It donated a lot of in-kind services that we could use toward the grant.”
Funds donated during the Sept. 8 Texoma Gives drive also will be applied to smaller maintenance projects, such as updating downtown street lighting, Main Street banners and putting lighting on the entrance signs on the east and west ends of town, he said.