Renovate or rust? — School district seeks donations to keep Kozisek Aquatic Center open

Weston County School District No. 1 needs to either raise enough money to renovate the Kozisek Aquatic Center — or abandon it, Superintendent Brad LaCroix told the News Letter Journal.

The current estimated cost to renovate would be about $500,000, according to a packet that LaCroix provided to the school board at its March 12 meeting.

The work required, according to the packet, includes two phases. The first is replacing the pool liner, which would cost $150,000 to $200,000, depending on whether the drains need to be relocated. Phase one would also include cleaning the filters and upgrading the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, which would cost between $85,000 and $100,000, depending on the availability of parts. The second phase requires weatherproofing the exterior shell of the facility, at an estimated cost of about $175,000.

“We really don’t know the exact amount because until we have the money, you really can’t go out for bids,” he said.

The cost will depend on the pricing provided by the few contractors that are capable of doing the work, and construction costs continue to go up. LaCroix told the NLJ that he anticipates the cost is likely to rise to around $600,000 in another year.

The superintendent ex-plained that the water sealant paint the pool liner needs in order to perform is beginning to erode, and at the same time the exterior of the Kozisek Aquatic Center needs to be made more efficient to address the potential for a skyrocketing cost of utilities. The district must also clean and rework the air filter system so that heating the pool water and balancing the air temperature doesn’t produce rust and calcium buildup.

“Really, they’re all one, because if you did the outside and the pool liner fell apart, well, then you have a nice outside,” he said. “If you do the pool liner and the outside falls apart, then your indoor pool just becomes an outdoor pool.”

Adam Ertman, the district’s maintenance director, said at the March 12 school board meeting that up-front costs would be higher if the district chose to convert the pool into a recreation center, because that would involve building a concrete or “floating” floor where the pool is and installing air conditioning, which the center doesn’t currently have. At the same time, considering the cost of pool chemicals and boilers for heating water, he’s not sure whether the district would ever “break even.”

“It’s a wash at the end of the day,” Ertman said. “It’s going to be a fortune, no matter what we do with it.”

The district’s 2025-26 school year budget for major maintenance fund projects is $80,000, so fixing the pool would take several years, even if the district didn’t use that fund for any other district expenses, LaCroix said at the meeting.

LaCroix said the district is trying to get the fundraising done as soon as possible so that the project can begin as soon as possible. According to LaCroix, the district wants to work with local companies that provide services locally – and “really anybody that wants to help.” He is meeting with the Weston County School District No. 1 Education Endowment Foundation, which accepts donations to help promote education opportunities, because most groups said they can only help if their donation is directed through a nonprofit so they can write it off on taxes.

LaCroix said he hopes the endowment board sees the “Save the Pool” project as an opportunity to support students. He is also hoping that this year’s Newcastle All-School Reunion will be beneficial for collecting donations.

The pool is used for recreational, therapeutic, competitive and educational swimming, as well as lifeguard training, pool parties and diving certification, according to the packet provided at last week’s school board meeting. District students from kindergarten through ninth grade complete a swimming unit each year in the pool, and LaCroix noted the only alternative for local swim classes would be swimming at the lake in the summer. The facility is also part of wellness plans for the district and for some local businesses. In 2024, 3,547 community members used the pool for open and lap swim.

Because it is supported by funds generated by the Eastern Weston County Recreation District, the cost for community members to use the facility has been kept low. The packet said that, aside from school purposes, the daily fee is $1 for students, and $2 for adults. Monthly passes are $15 for students, $20 for adults and $25 for families, and yearly passes are $50 for students, $75 for adults and $100 for families. Swim lessons are $30 per child or $20 for a second session. Seniors receive free admittance.

LaCroix said he believes the district will have a public relations campaign to encourage people to help fund the renovation. He is open to ideas regarding how best to raise the money, but revealed that the district will need to spend a similar amount to upgrade the facilities in another 20 years because the humidity and acidity of the compounds used at the pool have a short life cycle, like the district learned with its old pool. He admitted that at that time the community may decide to invest in a new facility if it would be cheaper to run and look better. He recalled that about 20 years ago, the district left the old pool behind because of  the cost to renovate, and instead built the aquatic center. It was thought that renovating an old pool would be putting “a lot of money into something that was still an old pool,” he said.

“I can’t really project what it looks like 20 years from now,” LaCroix admitted.

At the March 12 school board meeting, he said that he believes renovating the pool at this time is important, but not so important that paying for the pool renovation should “take away education or the ability for staff to switch their mind about a profession that’s pretty important to children.”

Without “big government” funding, LaCroix said, “we’re going to have to do more together to keep those kinds of things that we think are important. And maybe the community says it’s not important. I don’t know.”

LaCroix said he has no backup option if the district doesn’t secure the funding. In the worst case scenario, the aquatic center would likely become like the vacated school building on the hill, which is no longer usable, he said.

“I hate to think about that,” he said, noting that he hopes that residents and alumni will recognize the value of preserving the pool for another generation.

“It’s trying to bring people together for a common cause that we think is good for a wide range of age groups,” he said.

If funding for the project is secured, LaCroix anticipates that the exterior component of the project would take one or two months, depending on weather, and the interior portion of the project, which would involve shutting down the pool, would run from the end of May to the start of September. He said the district anticipates that as part of the remodel, they may also need to change its drain system.

“We’re not pool experts, but the whole idea behind a good pool, a fast pool, is that you’re able to keep that water fairly high — and that filtration system, the better it works, the better your hygiene of your pool is, so you don’t spend as much time with chemicals. You don’t spend as much time with your utilities because your efficiency rate goes up.”

He said he believes the contractor for the breadth of the project would be a nationwide company, because when the district simply painted the liner some years ago, there were only a couple of companies in the region that possessed the required expertise.

School Shorts

Notes from the March 12, 2025, meeting of the Weston County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees

The board unanimously approved the 2025-26 school year calendar.

Sonya Tysdal, the district’s curriculum director, said a couple of the district’s career and technical teachers have applied to serve on the Wyoming Department of Education’s committee to review the 2014 Wyoming Career & Vocational Content and Performance Standards. The WDE announced on March 10 that it is looking for educators and community members to serve. The deadline to apply to serve on the committee or submit input on the standards is April 12.

Thirty-four children have been signed up for kindergarten screening, Newcastle Elementary Principal Brandy Holmes said.