Campbell's Pool Was Drained in July. Its Replacement Turns on Money Still in Escrow

The pool behind the Campbell Community Center at 1 W. Campbell Ave. is empty. It measures 25 yards by 20 yards and opened in 1951 as part of Campbell High School's athletic department. The pool outlasted the school, which closed in 1980, and it kept running after the City turned the whole site into a community center in 1985. San José Spotlight reported that an hour of swimming there cost as little as $3.

The City drained it on July 14. Four months later, the replacement has a rough price, a list of features residents have asked for, and two groups of volunteers working on it. What it lacks is most of the money.

The Leak That Moved the Schedule Up

The original plan was to keep the old pool open until construction began on a new one at the same spot. San José Spotlight reported that the City Council approved $12 million for a new pool last year on that basis. Spotlight also reported that the plan to get through one last summer turned out to be too optimistic.

The City's notes from its August 6 community meeting lay out the sequence:

1. Staff already knew the inlets and gutters leaked.
2. During a June closure for staff training, they found a significant leak in the main drain. With the inlets plugged and the pool turned off, it lost 8 inches of water in a day.
3. The City planned to hold on with the existing leaks until summer programming ended.
4. On July 14, the amount of water lost in 24 hours was too large to keep the pool open, and it closed immediately.

A repair didn't make sense. The rules require two main drains and the pool has one. Adding a second would cost more than $1 million and mean tearing up the deck, and it still wouldn't fix the leaking inlets and gutters or update the mechanical room and locker rooms. Asked whether every repair option had been explored, staff said yes. A repair would cost a few million dollars and leave many of the other problems in place.

"This is one of the hardest decisions I've ever made in my professional career. The pool is a community asset and I know how much people value it."

Natasha Bissell, director of the Campbell Recreation and Community Services Department, said that to San José Spotlight. The closure also affected about 25 pool workers. Only one was a full-time City employee, and that person is being reassigned. The rest were temporary lifeguards, mostly teenagers, and temporary instructors.

What the Money Looks Like on Paper

The City's working estimate for the new aquatics center is about $12 million. The final number depends on what the community design ends up including. Campbell has given two figures for its own share, at two meetings two months apart.

Using the October figures, $3.6 million is the only money ready to spend. That leaves about $8.4 million to find. If the Measure K money is freed and used for the pool, the gap shrinks to roughly $0.9 million. Measure K is the swing factor.

Measure K was a sales tax measure passed a couple of years ago. City staff said in August that its revenue sits in an escrow account because the City has been sued. Staff also said Campbell had used significant reserves to fill the gap over the last two fiscal years. The same answer described Measure K as revenue for the General Fund to keep paying for park and recreation services, and said it wasn't designated as capital funding for infrastructure.

Grants look like a small source. Staff said the state grant Campbell is pursuing is open to every city, tribal community and nonprofit in California. They said they had been told directly that Campbell won't score high enough to do well. The City could ask for up to $8.5 million and receive only $200,000. Any grant money also comes with a deadline, since the project would have to be finished within five years of the funds being issued. Staff said construction and infrastructure grants are scarce. They added that Campbell, while short on parkland by the standard of 3 acres per 1,000 residents, still has more park space than some of the communities applying.

Staff also ruled out one idea. Asked whether the City would sell parkland to a developer to close the gap, staff said: "We are a park deficient community, never."

Why Two Outside Groups Now Carry Part of the Load

City employees can't ask for donations, so fundraising goes to people outside City Hall. Staff said so plainly at the August meeting when residents asked why local restaurants and businesses weren't being approached.

The Campbell Parks and Recreation Foundation fills that role. It is newly formed and, per the City's September 25 notice, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that would kick off fundraising for the pool. Donations go through the Foundation's Zeffy page. The City describes them as tax-deductible "to the extent permitted by law." This post is general information, not tax advice, so confirm your own situation with a tax professional before you count on a deduction.

Friends of the Campbell Pool is the second group. It describes itself as an independent, volunteer group run by neighbors, separate from the City, that meets monthly. Its website has a five-minute pool designer, a "Founding 25 Designers" milestone that was at 24 submissions, a petition, and a game where visitors collect fruit rings toward a goal of 5,000. The group sends donations to the Foundation.

What Residents Have Asked the New Pool to Do

Since the money is still being raised, the design work so far has focused on priorities. The City held community meetings on August 6 and September 21. An online prioritization survey ran through October 30 to help shape the brief for a design consultant, who hadn't been finalized as of the September notice.

Here is what came out of the August Q&A:

• A second pool. Staff said a second pool would let the City run several programs at once, such as aqua fitness alongside lap swim. Swim team parents asked for a smaller pool for warm-ups and cool-downs at meets.
• No fewer lanes. Lap swimmers asked for at least as many lanes as before. Staff said they wouldn't recommend anything smaller than the current pool, and neither did the City's 2017 Facility Audit.
• A roof. Residents raised it, and staff invited them to list it on the blank site plans.
• New locker rooms. Staff said accessible and inclusive locker rooms are very important.
• A water fitness pool. Residents could describe the size by use, such as large enough for 45 water exercise participants, and leave the dimensions to consultants.

The site itself is settled. Staff said a pool at the soccer fields would mean filling in the existing hole and upsetting soccer parents. On campus, the only buildings that are historic points of interest are Buildings A and B and the Heritage Theatre. The new pool can extend past the current fence line if needed. Staff said the goal is for any addition to look like it has always been part of the campus.

On timing, staff answered: "Honestly do not know. Public projects take longer than private or residential projects."

The Winter Gap, and Who It Hits First

The funding gap has a cost now, because the City's interim options ran out quickly. Some classes moved to the Westmont High School pool starting July 20, and that arrangement ended August 9. City staff said it isn't feasible to keep renting Westmont or other high school pools. Staff also said Camden Community Center knows about the closure, but Campbell can't run its programs there and Camden can't change its own programming mid-year.

Campbell's stated priority is its Aqua 50+ programs, which staff called "the most vulnerable population we serve." Staff said the earliest any interim programming could start is the new calendar year. Maggie Eyerman, who has run the private Maki Swim school in Campbell for 35 years, described the loss to San José Spotlight as "a huge dent for people because there's a lot of families that need that price point."

Spotlight named Camden Pool at 3369 Union Ave. in San Jose as the closest public alternative for most Campbell residents. It offers lap swim this winter only, under San José's off-season schedule, which runs from August 17, 2026 to June 5, 2027:

• Hours: Monday through Friday 4:30 to 8 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday 7:30 to 10 a.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Closed: November 26 to 28, and December 21, 2026 through January 3, 2027
• Single visit: $6 for adults 18 and up; $3 for youth, adults 50 and up, and people with disabilities
• Ten-visit punch pass: $50 or $30 for the same groups, with an 11th visit free
• Ages: 14 and up; teens must be accompanied by an adult for the whole visit
• Passes: sold at the Camden Community Center front desk, Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The swim at Camden costs about the same as Campbell's $3 hour for a swimmer 50 or older. The program isn't available there. Camden's FAQ says water aerobics isn't currently offered, and recreation swim ended August 8. A lap swimmer can make the switch this winter. An Aqua 50+ participant has no class to switch to.

Campbell's Winter/Spring 2027 Activity Guide is online now. Printed copies will be available at the Recreation Office by November 20. Registration opens at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, December 1 for Campbell residents and at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, December 2 for everyone else. The City posts pool project updates on its aquatics page and answers questions at [email protected].

Civic projects like this one change how a neighborhood works day to day long before anything is built. I follow them closely in Campbell. If you'd like to talk about how the Community Center campus and its future aquatics center fit into your plans in Campbell, Alexander Kalla is glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.