Keep up to date with RAL Pool news.

Anne Stapleton highlights continued administrative cuts to the RAL pool like the continuation of restricted hours, discontinued events, and postponed repairs despite attendance doubling since October 2022, per Parks & Rec. She urges administrators to restore full hours and complete deferred maintenance and encourages community members to come enjoy the historic RAL pool.

Iowa City residents celebrate the approval of a community-led nomination, adding the Robert A. Lee (RAL) Rec Center to the National Register of Historic Places.This national recognition was awarded for RAL’s architectural significance on a historically important site as a rare mid-century modern rec center with long-standing, widespread public support, and because its central location facilitates numerous municipal goals.

Community members nominate Iowa City’s RAL Community Rec Center for the National Register of Historic Places due to its architectural significance and community importance. The nomination highlights the building's design, history, and role in local recreation history. After unanimous approval by the State Nomination Review Committee, final listing by the National Park Service will give the city access to financial incentives for preservation and restoration.

Amy Kretkowski critiques the approval of Iowa City’s Recreation Master Plan, noting the plan lacks a vision consistent with community needs and wishes regarding changes proposed for Iowa City’s pools. She calls out disturbing misrepresentations of public feedback, characterizing input from city staff as that of "quiet voices" and the dismissal of feedback from active pool users leading Council members to accept misleading information about public opinion.

Anne Stapleton expresses gratitude to Iowa City Councilors John Thomas and Pauline Taylor for opposing the Parks and Recreation Master Plan because the recommendations it contains are unsupported by consultant findings and community input.

RAL pool advocates highlight enduring community support for saving the RAL pool. They reveal details of misrepresented repair costs, unsupported claims of low usage, inequitable facility comparisons, and overlooked public input, all clearly conflicting with the City’s plan. They confirm public resolve for transparency regarding the future of treasured community assets.

Supporters underscore the RAL pool’s vital role in the realm of Iowa City’s highly valued local aquatics, due to its central location, efficient design, warm water, and welcoming community. They draw attention to stark contradictions in the City’s closure plan, citing disparity with stated goals, disregard for public input, unsubstantiated claims of low attendance, and dismissal of cost-effective restoration. They illustrate that the RAL pool provides exactly what the data and community clearly support.

The Friends of RAL Pool presented 1,163 signatures of individuals who support the maintenance and improvement of the Robert A. Lee pool and oppose its closure to the Iowa City Council on September 6, 2022, and to the Parks and Recreation Commission on September 14, 2022.

160 citizen surge the Iowa City Council to prevent the closure of the RAL pool, an essential, accessible, and versatile aquatics facility in the heart of the community. They point out that renovating RAL is more cost-effective and equitable than expanding the Mercer Aquatic Center, which would provide fewer aquatic opportunities at a less accessible location and at a much higher cost. They provide an outline of the economic and environmental advantages of preserving the only affordable downtown pool and explain how RAL’s downtown location and modest size uniquely promote social interaction and diverse community connections that support the long-term physical and mental well-being of the Iowa City community.

Deb Tunwall encourages public involvement and shares her concerns about the possible closing of the RAL pool and shift of indoor swimming to the far-east Mercer facility. Reduced access by bus, loss of lap-swim options, increased expenses, overlooked needs of an aging population, and an ineffective public engagement process are emphasized.