Beach people – Pooling resources
Sherry Kramer at the Jan. 5 grand opening of the El Segundo/Wiseburn School District Aquatics Center. Photo As far back as the 1990s, El Segundo had been looking for a location and money to replace the downtown Urho Saari Swim Stadium. Though its namesake coach was legendary for sending a water polo team composed mostly of El Segundo High students to the 1952 Olympics (they finished fourth in Helsinki), the indoor pool was frequently closed. Its roof and its filtration system leaked. It was built in 1940 by the Work Project Administration (WPA). Repairs were estimated at $1 million. In 2010, an opportunity to replace the pool presented itself. The Wiseburn School District, which straddles the El Segundo/Hawthorne border, passed an $87 million school bond to build a high school. Negotiations began that year that led to the Jan. 5 grand opening of the $14 million El Segundo/Wiseburn School District Aquatics Center, next door to Wiseburn’s new high school. During a talk to the hundreds of swimmers and their families who attended the grand opening, former El Segundo mayor Bill Fisher recalled the challenging negotiations between the council he served on in 2010 and the Wiseburn school…
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