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Community Corner

Thoughts on the Community Pool


Thoughts on the Community Pool

I hear many say Hamilton is a rich town and should have a pool to reflect that status. Well, rich towns are found on nearly every road these days. It is not the money, but the character of a town that houses its wealth.

It is the character of our town that brings people here. Somehow, once they arrive, some forget that, or maybe never understood it in the first place, and want to make our town “better” by advocating for fancy amenities that would reduce our town to just another generic zip code , that would destroy the small town essence that makes ours such a sought after community.

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 In keeping with the Hamilton image of what some say we should have, a behemoth pool project was devised. The plan was to sell memberships to bordering towns because the behemoth pool design was way beyond our means to fund and maintain. The use of CPC funds for this project was not likely to be successful in any case because the statute specifically allows for the use of funds pertaining to “noncommercial youth and adult sports” on the recreational use of lands. MGL c.44B.  Indeed, I submit the selling of memberships to outside towns not contributing to the project amounts to a commercial endeavor.

The idea of building a large complex and then selling memberships to other towns destroys the character of our small town. I have spoken to many citizens who have fond memories of knowing everyone at the pool- of being part of a group-of belonging. Another friend remembers taking her children to the pool and picnicking for the day alongside her neighbors. These qualities of community life are not replaceable in a project such as that as had been advocated.

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Somehow, the gods of universal wisdom in community preservation intervened and brought the lowest bid in at a staggering $2.9 M., bringing the advocates of this project down to earth.

When I drive down Route 1A in the summer, I see a modest pool just visible behind a cluster of shrubs and trees in stately old Patton Park that reeks of small town America. My eye is drawn to some 50 or so towels flung into the openings of a chain link fence, a cacophony of color and texture orderly arranged according to the reaching height of its owner. Then nearby, under the canopy of the trees, sits a collection of arms and legs, wet heads and smiles, eating lunch, and lolling in the essence of what makes Hamilton such a desirable town. I catch my breath at the ineffable affirmation of what it means to live here.

I submit any pool for our town must be about preserving those intangible qualities of life. CPC funds are meant to preserve the character of a town and the quality of life within it. The size of our current pool is quite adequate for our town needs according the Rec Committee. I therefore wholeheartedly support Selectman Jeff Hubbard who proposes an aesthetically restrained, fiscally responsible renovation of our current pool, keeping the existing footprint, and reusing components as is feasible.

Respectfully submitted,

Rosemary Kennedy

 

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