News Release
Did you know there’s a Junior Olympic-sized swimming pool in Patagonia? That it’s available to everyone? That currently it’s free to children 12 and younger, to first responders and veterans? Did you know the pool has been on the grounds of the Patagonia High School since the 1980s?
Well now you do.
The beginning of December might seem like an odd time to talk about what an asset the Patagonia Pool is to eastern Santa Cruz County but it’s the time to start planning for next year. Actually, the planning never stops. The work never stops. The fundraising never stops. And this year due to all that planning and work and fundraising, the swimming season hasn’t stopped either.
There have been organizations and people throughout the life of the pool who have made sure it stayed alive and available to the communities of eastern Santa Cruz County. We’re lucky they never gave up on the pool. The Town of Patagonia and the Patagonia School Districts have resisted the economic pressures to close the pool many different times. But they can no longer support the pool completely. The Patagonia Pool is a survivor.
The Patagonia Regional Aquatics Center (PRAC) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that has been doing more and more of the planning and work and fundraising for the last few years. So far we are a volunteer organization—and what volunteers! Whatever the problem, and there are always problems with an aging pool, they have found a solution and implemented it.
No lifeguards once the student lifeguards go back to school? Retired pool lovers trained, studied and got Red Cross-certified as lifeguards, and volunteer so the pool can open before summer break and stay open long after the students return to school in August.
Can’t afford a pool cleaning and maintenance service? Community members learned how to scrub, vacuum and clean the pool. And they do it several times a week. They learned how to maintain the pumps and filters and make sure the chemicals are balanced. That’s why we have a sparkling clean pool for all to enjoy.
Need a heater for extended swimming seasons? Donors came together to provide a grant match and dedicated volunteers found and wrote winning grants, and then followed through to make sure the heater got installed and properly running.
Even with all these amazing volunteers, it takes a lot of money to run a pool: to train and pay for student lifeguards in the summer (a wonderful job opportunity for our high school students), to subsidize children’s access, to pay for chemicals and utilities and for expertise beyond our own, to pay for needed upgrades—pool cover, vacuum, replacement filter media, safety equipment to name a few.
We have tireless volunteers who raise funds in a variety of creative and effective ways: our yard and bake sales bring in essential ongoing funds, grants from community partners are critical but limited, donors are generous, the Town and schools help as they can.
We need your help too. We need you to come and enjoy and use the pool. And we need your financial support.
Please give whatever you can. We need funds to dive into 2025, prepared to continue caring for our pool and making it available to all.
Visit our website at patagoniapool.org. You can donate there via PayPal or credit card.
Visit our Facebook page for up to date opening information and other announcements: facebook.com/PatagoniaPool/
Or send a tax-deductible check made out to PRAC to: Patagonia Regional Aquatics Center, PO Box 1052, Patagonia, AZ 85624
And thank you! Dive in, the water is fantastic.