Residents and students who frequent the Maggie Gilbert Aquatic Center are enjoying 16 plastic chairs and 10 loungers, purchased with a $1,200 donation from the Friends of Temescal Pool (FTP) and $400 from Palisades Elementary. ‘Finally our wish list is coming true,’ said Palisades High Aquatics Director Brooke King. ‘So many community members are coming and enjoying all that we have to offer. It is really great that they are now able to lounge out, be mellow, relax and enjoy the good environment and vibes.’ Next on King’s list is a play area for toddlers who are at the pool during their older siblings’ swim team practice or lessons. ‘I’d also like to purchase tables with umbrellas where people can eat and meet,’ said King, who noted that resident Nora Lehrer has donated swimsuit water extractors for the locker rooms. Ilene Cassidy, who co-founded FTP and won a Community Council Sparkplug Award for the group’s attempt to keep a pool in Temescal Gateway Park, said, ‘I came up with the idea for pool furniture because this place is so stark, it needed some warmth.’ Members of FTP supported her idea. ‘We did it for the good of the community because the funds [for FTP] were donated by the community,’ said FTP co-founder John Yeh. ‘Rose Gilbert saw her financial support of a pool at PaliHi as a way to fill a need in the community that existed even with the Temescal Pool up and running,’ said FTP member Kelly Comras. ‘She never anticipated that the Temescal Pool would close, leaving a huge gap in swimming opportunities for the public. ‘PaliHi has gone to great lengths to try and fill a small hole in that gap and the Friends are delighted to help make the public’s experience just that much better.’ Cassidy said that former PaliHi Executive Director Amy Dresser-Held signed an agreement with FTP that supported the group’s effort to reopen the Temescal Pool because of the need for two pools in the community. ‘Because of the mutual agreement and support from Palisades High School, we thought we could take some of the money and make this pool better,’ said Cassidy, who swims at the PaliHi pool every day and works out with different masters’ programs. Currently FTP is dormant, but the organization remains intact. Temescal Pool, which was operated by the Palisades-Malibu YMCA, was closed in February 2008 because of leaky pipes, with an repair estimate of $400,000. The YMCA and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy were unable to reach a lease agreement and a group of swimmers formed Friends as a nonprofit organization to save the pool. In January 2009, the pool was filled in without public notice after California Coastal Commission Deputy Director Jack Ainsworth issued an emergency permit. Friends responded by filing a lawsuit against the Conservancy and its partner, the Mountains Conservation and Recreation Authority. The Conservancy filed a motion to dismiss the case, and L.A. Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White ruled in the Conservancy’s favor in June 2009. Friends immediately appealed the ruling to the California Court of Appeals, which was denied in 2011. ‘There is still a strong constituency for bringing back the pool,’ Comras said. ‘Even now, a week does not go by when I don’t have someone ask me for news. The Conservancy will eventually have to do a master plan for Temescal Gateway Park and, when it does, the pool issue will resurface.’ The Palisades High pool hours are as follows: Monday 5:30-8:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., 3:30-4, 5-5:30 and 6:30-9, Wednesday 6-8:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., 3:30-4. 5-5:30 and 6:30, Tuesday/Thursday 6-8:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., 3:30-4. 5-8, Friday 6-8 a.m., 3:30-7 p.m., Saturday 12-5 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Daily admission fees are $6 for adults, $4 for youth/student/ senior, $10 for aerobics and $7 for aerobics for seniors. 10 admission passes are $50 for adults, $30 for youth/student/seniors, $85 for aerobics and $55 for aerobics for seniors. Annual passes are $1,000 for adults, $1,500 for families and $700 for seniors and students.
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