Vote NO on October 2 to Save Rutherford's Community Pool
The pool is a precious, irreplaceable asset. Building a new pool elsewhere would cost Rutherford taxpayers $8-14 million.
Thousands of Rutherfordians have benefitted from the Community Swim Program in place since the pool opened in 1980.
Swimming is a life-saving skill; pool access is not a luxury.
At the groundbreaking ceremony when the pool was built, Dr. Murray Elters, Jr., Rutherford Board of Education President, stated, "Every child should know how to swim." We agree.
The Meadowlands YMCA is willing to invest $1.2 million in capital improvements for the Rutherford pool and to provide free swim lessons to all Rutherford second-grade children.
Vote NO to preserve our community swim programs
The pool was built as a Community Pool and has always been run as such as per the stipulation from the Rutherford Mayor & Council.
The pool impacts all Rutherford residents. Thousands of children, adults, senior citizens and families have benefited from a pool located in the heart of Rutherford.
There are invaluable quality of life opportunities for children to learn to swim, for teens to become trained to be lifeguards, for youth to join a swim team, for adults and seniors to become healthier through water exercise and lap swim programs, for residents to participate in the Mayor's Wellness Campaign, for special needs residents to have fun, and for a place for every member of the community to come together to socialize in a healthy environment.
The pool is a treasure that very few communities enjoy, a source of pride for all Rutherford residents.
Vote NO on October 2 to support our champion Rutherford High School Swim Team.
The RHS Boys Swim Team recently won its fourth-straight NJIC title. Would any other sport's facilities be destroyed in this way?
The loss of the pool would cause significant hardship to student swimmers, who would have to be bused to daily practice and would no longer benefit from priority pool hours in their home pool.
Practice schedules would be determined by out-of-town pool facilities, impacting study and sleep time for student athletes.
Pool fees and busing would cost Rutherford taxpayers thousands of dollars annually.
The team would lose the competitive advantage of practicing in a 25-meter pool.
There would be no more home swim meets, all would be away, causing all to drive to other out-of-town facilities to cheer on the RHS swim team.
YMCA Proposal
The YMCA have stated that they need two pools in order to serve the needs of the community.
The YMCA has offered $1.2 million to assume responsibility for the operation, maintenance and direct capital improvements of the pool, in exchange for a long-term contract.
New, more extensive programs would be offered to the Rutherford Recreation Department and to Rutherford preschools.
Running two pools would allow for many additional new programs to be offered to Rutherford residents including a year-round Swim Club, US Master Swim program for adults and the YMCA of the USA 2nd Grade Swim Lesson Initiative which will provide complimentary lessons to every 2nd grader in Rutherford.