Not trusting the system, J'lem pool goers step up action to keep it open

Jerusalemites opposing the imminent closing of their beloved neighborhood pool recently stepped up their efforts to save the German Colony landmark, hiring a lawyer and collecting some NIS 22,000 in donations. Although the group has the municipality's backing, the future of the capital's only Olympic-sized pool is still unclear.

"We know the way things work in this city - if the pool closes without any clear plan for making the necessary repairs and without a clear commitment to reopen it on a specific date, the pool will not open again," said Haim Watzman, the Ohio-born chairman of the Va'ad Breichat Yerushalayim, or Action Committee against the Closing of the Pool. Currently, owners of the Jerusalem Pool are not extending memberships beyond December 31.

The health ministry had threatened not to renew the pool's business license past December 31 without certain renovations, which the pool's owners - the Elah Brothers and Moshav Shoresh - said they couldn't afford. Rather, they planned to build a housing project or a parking lot on the site. After the municipality asserted last month that the owners have to continue operating the pool, they pledged to do so but added it would be closed for "two to three months" after New Year's to do the necessary repairs.

One of the pool's operators, Rami Bar-Eli, said a final decision as to the pool's future has not yet been taken, and hinted the owners might consider reducing the pool's size or modify it in some other way. "But if we decide to build something there we won't do it behind people's backs; we'd announce it publicly and do it in orderly fashion."

Watzman welcomed the management's commitment to maintaining the pool but demanded the public be involved in the renovations. "We want to see the plans," he said, adding that his group opposes shrinking the pool and in the long runs favors transferring it from private to public ownership.

Meanwhile, the committee continues to press its case and pursue its fundraising campaign, which seems to be working. While some 20 Jerusalemites peacefully swam their laps Tuesday morning, two Anglo volunteers sat outside collecting donations. Hardly a minute went by without a passerby approaching them. Many generously chipped in.

"I've been using the pool for about 20 years and I love it and it would be a pity to close it," said Los Angeles native Marc Flamm. Even tourists opened their wallets: "If people are doing this [raising money] it means that it's important to them," said Allison Rosenthal, a New York resident here on vacation. "And since people really use the pool it's important that it stays open."

The money is primarily intended to pay Jerusalem lawyer Benjamin Hyman, who will represent the group in upcoming discussions about the pool's future. For November 22, the committee plans a march from the pool to the offices of the local neighborhood administration.