To the editor:

I’m an avid outdoor pool visitor with my wife and two kids. The main swimming area is where our family spends most of our time. We spread out. I throw my rough and tumble boy into the water over and over again without worrying about bothering others. My littler one has the space she needs to float on her back and work on her confidence.

We are therefore dismayed by the plans to shrink the pool.

We do not need a splash pad here. Lawrence has many of them and we go to a splash pad when we want to do that. We come to the pool to swim.

We do not need a lazy river here. It is a waste of space and removes creativity in favor of over-structure.

What we need is lots of open swim space, just like we have now. The plan to remove more than half of the open swim space would be a crime to our community. We will be packed in like sardines on the hot days.

I can see that the pool does need updating. The bathrooms certainly do.

But for the love of all that is summer, we hope the city will not so hastily destroy one of the gems of our town by shrinking the pool for the fads of splash pads and lazy rivers.

For anyone who agrees that no lazy river or splash pad is worth losing our main swimming space, please sign this petition: www.change.org/lawrence-pool.

Christin Bowman,

Lawrence