Madison Pool Closes; Lake Herman Still Open!

KJAM reports that Madison's outdoor pool has met its demise early, due to "busted" pipes. Perhaps the pool, sensing that its days were numbered in the face of plans for the fancy new $3.5 million "aquatic center" (instead of "pool", like "progressive" instead of "liberal", "ADHD" instead of "naughty" -- pretty soon we won't be able to call anything what it was called in 1980), just up and died. My first mountain bike did that -- I bought a new bike for long roadtrips, and the next day, the mountain bike broke clean in half while I rode down Main Street in Brookings.

But take heart, kids: there's still plenty of outdoor swimming available at gorgeous Lake Herman. The recent rains have dispersed the algae a bit, and what green is there just raises the overall density and helps you float better. Plus, the most recent bacteria readings from my samples here on the west side of Herman came in very low -- zero on a couple of measures! So keep those swim trunks handy -- there's still plenty of swimming and summer to enjoy!

(p.s.: I note from KJAM coverage a year ago that the Aquatics Committee was originally looking at $1.5-2.5 million for the project. Uff da! I'm glad Lake Herman is still free!)