Pool debate divides Heights-area group

A proposed membership-only swimming pool in the Heights is making a splash among critics who worry about equal access to the facility.

The pool would be located in a field owned by Lodge 88, a local branch of the Czech community organization SPJST (short for Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas). For members of the 108year-old organization designed to promote the Czech culture, the swimming pool represents the future of the Beall Street lodge. But while some see the promise of a financially stable organization with a growing, more active membership, others see a group of newcomers transforming community into exclusivity.

The proposal calls for an eightlane, 25-yard heated lap pool, a recreation pool, a clubhouse, playground and tennis courts to open at the site by summer 2020. The one-time family membership deposit for the swim club is listed as $6,000 with annual dues of $1,000 once the swim club opens. The annual fee for lodge membership is $9.

Out of the funds raised for the swimming pool, $350,000 would be given to the lodge for muchneeded repairs including replacing the roof. Only members of the lodge can become members of the pool, leading many families to join the organization.

However, early plans involved capping the number of families who could use the pool to 360 families out of the lodge’s over

4,000 members. According to Lodge 88’s website, all 360 spots were reserved and the waiting list was nearly 300 families long.

On Sunday afternoon, over 150 members of the lodge met to discuss making the committee that has been spearheading the swimming pool permanent. Many were in favor of the new pool.

“I don’t know what there is to be against — I think it supports families, community and our youth program,” said Caroline Mermis. “I’m excited for my kids to have the opportunity to have a swimming pool.”

But some, like Fred Buri, who has been a member of the lodge since 1940, were less optimistic. Buri remembered the days when the lodge had a pool in the past, before it was filled.

“The other pool was for everybody,” he said. Excluding people from using the pool bothered him, and he didn’t think that enough people had been involved in the decision-making process.

“When and under what conditions should the rights of the majority be curtailed to protect the minority?” wondered Brian Vanicek, president of the statewide organization overseeing Lodge 88. He believed that the lodge should continue the swimming pool committee, and advised that the committee consider all of the lodge’s members as it structured the pool’s rules. “I truly think think that history may look back and see the present Lodge 88 pool episode as something of a watershed moment,” Vanicek said.

In part, that was because a swimming pool had the potential to save the lodge from trends that had been playing out over the past 25 years. Vanicek remembered when the lodge had 10,000 members in the early ‘90s. That number has since dropped by more than half. But as talks of the swimming pool became more serious starting at the beginning of this year, over 300 new people signed up.

Donnie Victorick, chairman of the board for the statewide organization, pointed out that Lodge 88 didn’t even have enough active members to fill all of its officer positions before the recent wave of new members.

“Either you grow or you die,” he said.

Victorick also said the pool was necessary for the lodge’s physical existence. Money from the pool will go toward maintaining the lodge’s existing structures. “If you don’t do these needed repairs, it won’t make a difference, because the building will not last long without a good roof,” he said.

Adam Curley, one of the new members of the lodge who was working on the swimming pool committee, said the debates over the pool were proof that the process was working. As the committee prepares its plans before a vote, which could take place as early as February, details that concerned members had time to change.

“It’s definitely on the table that everyone who feels left out in the cold will have a chance to join,” he said.