Pool Petition Launches in New Haven
By: Nadia Bashir
Updated: September 1, 2009
Jury Pool in New Haven was closed this year despite more than twenty-thousand people having walked through its gates last year. New Havens Park District closed the pool due to budget and safety issues. A new campaign will decide the fate of renovations proposed for the pool.
Jury pool opened in 1969 and has not been renovated since. It now suffers from cracks in the cement foundation among other problems.
A group of citizens launched a remonstrance process a few months ago to have the issue put before citizens. The remonstrance prevailed and now petitions will be circulated from September 11-October 13th. Yellow petitions are in support of renovations and blue petitions are against them. Whichever side obtains the most signatures from residents prevails.
Floyd Ball and his friend Marvin Jarvis are in charge of blue petitions. They say they do want Jury Pool to open however they do not want to spend millions of dollars on renovations. It is estimated the bond to fund pool renovations would cost the average property owner in Adams Township about $17 a year. "It might not sound like a lot, but you can get nickeled and dimed to death," said Ball.
Even if supporters prevail with the most signatures the project will still need funding approval from New Haven City Council. It delayed that vote until after the petitions are turned in.
For more information on the pool and proposed renovations visit the website:
www.savejurypool.com
