It’s been five years since Piedmont last had a pool. To the construction companies, the politicians, and the adults of the community: this will end up being only a blip in your memory. But for high schoolers and children of the community, five years is an exorbitant amount of time that will forever affect our long term memory; everyday the pool remains uncompleted is another day where the Water Polo team can’t practice or play home games, the Swim team can’t practice or host meets, young kids can’t learn how to swim or make long lasting memories of their childhood, and these are things we will never get back. The pool was part of the reason my family moved to Piedmont and what made it so special, it’s time we get it done and restore this community.
As a captain of the PHS Water Polo team I’ve felt the effects of our lack of a pool firsthand. This past season when the Laney College pool broke, we were without any place to practice for two weeks in a critical time of the season. When we finally found a place to practice, we were constrained to a quarter of a pool that was already smaller than most. On top of the lack of space, our practices were cut short by 30 minutes to an hour every night, as well as having many practices cancelled. When our season came to an end, we fell just short in the NCS playoffs. It was impossible for the team not to think about the potential difference those countless hours of missed practice could have had on the outcome of our season. When we think about the missed opportunities and memories the lack of a pool has created, obvious ones, like playing in front of our peers and walking to practice come to mind, but we don’t think about the unquantifiable could-have-beens.
Looking beyond this past season another glaring effect of not having a pool for the water polo team has been on recruiting. Since construction has begun, there has been a steady decrease in interest in the Water Polo program. This past year was the first time in at least 13 years the boys team has not had a JV team. Furthermore, there were a mere three freshmen to join the Water Polo program of the boys and girls teams combined. With this trend, if the
pool is not completed, the water polo program will be on the verge of collapse within a few years.
I first started playing Water Polo at our community pool through a rec program in 5th grade. If that hadn’t existed, I would have never started playing this great sport that I now love so much. This is exactly what we have been missing out on for the past five years–getting kids interested at a young age, or any age at all, in a way that is easily accessible is what makes programs sustainable.
Additionally, prominence in the community and home games are big factors in recruiting. Piedmont students grow up going to home games for football, basketball, soccer, baseball, etc. that get kids excited to join those same teams some day. When there are no home games, no one hears about water polo, and not only do young kids not get to attend home games, it is much harder for the sport to be covered by local news. I’ll always remember when my babysitter took me to a PHS water polo game against Berkeley High at the Piedmont pool six years ago–I remember thinking that that was something I wanted to be a part of someday. Now it’s unclear if I will ever be able to again.
My former teammates who graduated in the class of 2024 were integral parts in the passing of Measure UU to fund the construction of the pool in 2020. They were hopeful to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Now, here we are, five years later, and there is still no end in sight. How did we get here? The problem started with the terms of the contract with the construction company the city hired. The contract is purely time and materials based, meaning there is no incentive for a timely completion. The longer they take, the more money they make. And we have seen this firsthand; the last two times they have come before the City Council to give a progress update (before the March 3 meeting), they have asked for more money, totalling to 4.7 million extra dollars, making the total cost now 34.9 million dollars (not including the rentals of other pools for athletics over the past five years, that continue to increase). The justification for this increase in cost was simply that the completion time had increased. As a student, this would be equivalent to turning in an assignment late, and instead of losing points I was awarded extra credit. This simply makes no sense.
Time and time again rain has been the main excuse for delays in construction. This, again, simply makes no sense. Firstly, rain has been incredibly below average for the duration of construction. In Jan. we average 3.4 inches of rain, in 2025 we had a mere .15 inches. In Dec. we average 4.9 inches of rain, in 2024 we had 3.1 inches. in Nov. we average 2.9 inches, in 2024 we only had 0.5 inches; in Oct. we average 1.4 inches, in 2024 we only had 0.1 inches, as well as no rain in Sep. While we’ve experienced more rain in Feb. than on average, it can’t possibly make up for the entirety of the rest of construction. Obviously when making a projection for the completion of a project the average rainfall would have been taken into account, so if anything, we should be ahead of schedule.
What’s more, there has been seemingly no preventative measures taken to combat the rain we have had. The site is not tarped when rain is forecasted and the water is not pumped out after it rains, allowing it to seep into the ground which is what they argue is causing significant delays. Lastly, if it was a known fact that the second pool could not be excavated during the rainy season, why was this not planned in advance and prioritized over the summer? While the rain we have had should negatively affect the project completion, given the below average numbers there shouldn’t be anything that wasn’t planned for and expected in advance. In the City Council progress update on March 3rd, the contractor claimed they have been pumping out water all winter, but based on the webcam of the site, there is no evidence of this.
The next problem lies in communication and trust. Since the conceptual stage of this project, the public has been spoonfed promise after promise of completion dates, that continue to come and go without end. On Sept. 29 2023 the project was said to be completed in the summer of 2024. By Dec. 18 2023 it was delayed to Oct. 2024. By March 17 2024 it was scheduled to be complete in the winter of 2024. Now there is a tentative projection of July 2025. When will it end?
On both Dec. 3 and Feb. 4 the project was 82% completed, meaning no progress in two months. Their explanation for this was that the percentage is indicative of the tasks completed and there are continuously more tasks being added as original tasks are being broken up into smaller tasks; but if this were the case the percentage would still be going up. It wouldn’t matter if they are broken up if they are still being completed, leaving the public wondering if anything is getting done. This form of data is essentially useless to the public as a means to calculate overall progress, especially when all tasks are treated equally. The only other way for the community to receive updates is at the city council with their quarterly report, where they have a consistent optimistic tone and continue to say they are on track and can’t wait for it to be completed, the only thing in their way is rain.
At this point in a delay the public deserves more information. Weekly reports with specific tasks completed is the least the construction company can do and in no way should be difficult at all. While measures like this would be unnecessary at the start of a project, at this point in time the construction company has lost our trust. It is time for the City Council and City Staff to step up and hold them accountable.
Right now, what we all want is the pool to be finished absolutely as soon as possible. It is time for the community to come together and continue to show our support and put pressure on the construction company and the city. And it’s time for the city to demand results from the construction company, to oversee the project much more closely, and to start to punish them for the exorbitant delays and to refuse to be taken advantage of any longer.
