The public had access to Prairies Pool, located on Chapel Lane near Prairie Housing, and Patterson Pool on base thanks to the Air Force community partnership program. While the idea of leveraging resources with local communities to reduce costs is not new for Wright-Patterson, this is the first instance in which a base facility was opened to the public for recreational purposes.
Despite cooler weather driving down pool attendance, Wright-Patterson spokesman Daryl Mayer said it was a successful summer season — one of many in this effort toward shared services.
“We are very pleased with this for our first year, and we think that the numbers will only go up in the future,” said Mayer.
Alicia Eckhart, Fairborn’s Parks and Recreation superintendent, described the partnership as a “win-win.” Local residents have not had a community pool since the Greene County Pool near Fairborn High School closed after the 2009 season.
Three local swim teams took advantage of Prairies Pool and 35 percent of the swimming lessons offered at the base were taught to residents of nearby communities. Local residents bought 681 daily pool passes, compared to about 5,000 military pool passes purchased since Memorial Day. Eckhart said that showed “the public hasn’t overwhelmed the base’s usage by any means.”
But base officials and local leaders agree that opening Wright-Patterson’s pools to the public has been useful to both parties, and now they are working toward expanding their partnership to other recreational facilities. Mayer said a waiver to allow shared-use of the Twin Base Golf Course has already been submitted to the U.S. Department of Defense.
A partnership at Twin Base Golf Course would prove to be “much trickier” than the pools, he said, because there are already community courses in the area. “We have to look at what local businesses already exist — we don’t want to interfere with them by creating competition.”
If the golf-course waiver is approved, Eckhart believes it may be easier to pursue even more ventures in the future. Other partnership possibilities include the Rod and Gun Club and a hobby and crafts center on base.
About the Author