NORTH CANTON, Ohio — For many North Canton families, the Dogwood Pool is more than just a place to cool off in the summer. It's where kids learned to swim, where teens spent countless summer days, and where parents and grandparents watch a new generation make those same memories.
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But after more than 50 years, city leaders think the aging pool is reaching a crossroads.
Keeping the pool up and running during the summer amid its infrastructure issues is costing the City of North Canton an estimated $150,000 every season.
North Canton's director of administration, Catherine Farina-Molnar, said the pool needs to be rebuilt, which would cost millions of dollars no matter where it is built.
"We have to not be shortsighted and just base it on an emotional decision that we are in love with our childhood memories at the pool from 1971, because that's multi-generational now, you have people that are taking their grandchildren there now, but we have to think for the future," said Farina-Molnar.
To help plan for the future, city leaders are considering a land swap deal with North Canton City Schools. The deal would trade the Dogwood Pool site with the former Middle School and Orchard Hill Elementary.
The trade would give the city more than 20 acres of land, a blank slate for new development, including a total pool rebuild. Farina-Molnar said, "where the middle school is already touches our parks. We already have playgrounds, tennis courts, bathrooms, ball fields."
Meanwhile, the school district is interested in widening 7th Street to ease traffic in the neighborhood.
But the possibility of closing down and moving Dogwood Pool has sparked strong reactions from the community.
At the North Canton City Council on June 15, dozens of residents showed up just to talk about the pool.
Jim Quinn, one of those residents, is a long-time North Canton Resident. Quinn would like the pool to stay right where it is: "you will never be able to replace this pool. It is irreplaceable. I haven't heard a lot of interest in building a new pool, but I hear a lot of interest in keeping the one we've got," said Quinn.
If the land swap is approved by both the North Canton City Council and the North Canton City Schools Board of Education, Dogwood Pool would still remain in its current location until 2030. The school district agreed to lease it back to the city for $1 a year.
"Every year we limp it along, we get it up and operating. Right now we're operating with no plan. If something big were to happen there's no plan. This land swap gives us time to put a plan together because the school is going to lease us back the pool property, the actual pool for four years," said Farina-Molnar.
Quinn believes city residents are willing to pay more to maintain it, "I do know you do have to buy a membership, and I know it's not cheap, and so the fact that people are willing to pay that much money to buy a summer pass to the pool does show that people want this enough that they're willing to pay for it. I think they're willing to pay to maintain it," said Quinn.
City leaders stress no decisions have been made about a new pool build or what other development might be included in the land swap.
"We know it's a beautiful pool that has been there since 1970, and we love it, and it's extraordinarily popular, and we don't want to give it up. That's the way the citizens look at it, and the city officials see it as a huge burden they're just sick of. So, we have completely different viewpoints," said Quinn.
If you'd like to weigh in, you can do so at the next North Canton City Council meeting on Monday, June 22, at 7 p.m. Meetings are held at the North Canton Civic Center at 845 W. Maple Street.
Council will hear a third reading and more public comment on the land swap on July 6. The North Canton City Schools Board of Education is set to vote on the swap on July 15.
