Kevin Costner would have loved to have had the “problem” facing the Davis swim community.

In “Field of Dreams,” the whispering voice from the cornfield advised him to construct a baseball diamond: “If you build it, they will come.”

If Costner was a swimmer, he would have heard a chorus shouting about a new pool: “Build it, they’re already here.”

Davis Aquadarts head coach Billy Doughty and longtime organization coach Carolee Gregg took some time this week to talk all things swimming — with a special focus on the worth of a new facility at Community Park.

The Aquadarts, avoiding a logjam this summer, reached accord with the city to lease Community Pool from May 15 to Aug. 15. The almost 50-year-old facility was to be a budget casualty, scheduled for closure.

“It worked out really well,” Doughty explained. “If the pool had closed, it would have displaced 350 to 400 swimmers. We were able to host other programs (AquaStarz and North Davis Elementary swimming lessons among them) and provide support. Whatever had been done there in the past, we did … and did whatever we could do to help.”

The cost of the lease was $18,000. Before the facility could reopen May 15, it needed prep work. The Aquadarts brought in sponsors and raised $8,000 to get the pool ready for the kids.

Gregg and Doughty said the support was always there. The group recouped its investment, the city provided a functioning facility at no cost, while the overflow that would have flooded Civic, Manor and Arroyo pools was dammed at Community Pool.

City Manager Steve Pinkerton and Doughty will meet Sept. 24 to review the unique lease and see if it can expand further.

Gregg already has turned away 25 little swimmers for her fall program and Doughty is hopeful that spring and fall months can be added to the 2013 lease.

But renting the facility is just putting a collective finger in the dike.

“While we want to continue — and expand — the lease, if something major goes wrong, we’re out the door,” Doughty candidly admits, adding that his group doesn’t have resources for catastrophic repairs. “We’re not able to pay for a heating system or a pump.”

However, for the past year — with Mayor Pro Tem Dan Wolk working with the swim community — the city and Aquatic Design Group, a consulting firm, have brought swimmers and recreation-minded residents into the discussion about a new facility where the aging pool stands.

A 50-meter pool with a shallow auxiliary pool is one of the proposals. Another is to include water features that will provide family fun — slides and fountains — some of which are already in place at Manor and Arroyo pools.

Doughty says the city would be, by far, best served with the 50-meter competition/training/teaching pool.

“We have the slides and such at other sites already,” he explains. “By consolidating Aquadarts, AquaMasters and all the other programs at Community Pool, it would open Manor and Arroyo for expanded-use hours.”

Those existing, often-idle slides would be back in play. Doughty says Manor Pool — which, like all city pools, is lighted — should stay open past 5 p.m. for families.

“I know most moms and dads are just getting off work then. Expanding hours, especially during the summer, is feasible (when the pressure) is off the other pools.”

Doughty knows of what he speaks.

Before coming to Davis in 2009, the former Clemson swimmer had his signature on the creation of world-class aquatic facilities in Palo Alto and Mobile, Ala.

He says a new local facility will open a boatload of possibilities — each enriching Davis swimmers’ lives and helping the coffers of a beleaguered city treasury. Doughty says the foundation of Davis’ swimming reputation — thanks to coaches like Jamey Wright and Stu Kahn — can only grow.

“When we go to Redding for (Junior Olympics), for example, we book 40 rooms — just Aquadarts. There are many other clubs there,” Doughty continues, adding that Davis High water polo and swim teams — thanks to a 50-meter pool — could bid on the section championship meet to come to Davis. Aquadarts could host those Junior Olympics and Davis Water Polo Club could be a summer home to big tournaments.

“It just means a lot to the hotels, retailers, restaurants,” Doughty says. “It’s win-win for everybody.”

Cost estimates for the Community Pool project have been as high as $8 million.

Doughty weighs in on that, too:

“Once we see the report (scheduled for presentation in October to the Parks and Recreation Commission), we’re going to go back and do some more research on our own. See how we can lower the cost, how we can make it more efficient. How we can lower operational costs for the city.”

While Gregg says the summer lease and discussion of a new facility are “exciting,” she is guarded about the future. She knows if Aquadarts are denied another contract, the scramble for pools is back on. If the city doesn’t allow expansion of the lease, more kids in a constantly growing program will be turned away.

One thing is certain. Billy Doughty is the resident ranking expert in how to make this all work. And judging from the smooth summer sailing the Aquadarts’ guardianship of Community Pool had, the city of Davis is well advised to listen closely when Doughty and his Davis Aquatics Council colleagues make suggestions.

While I Have You Here: The local business community stepped up again in helping the Aquadarts provide summer pool service.

It’s smart for our residents to acknowledge their support by frequenting these businesses or saying thanks to the individuals who contributed: Tutti Frutti Yogurt, Wicked West Pizza, Paul Brady, Wells Fargo Bank, Sun West Foods, Calfee and Konwinski, Purves and Associates Insurance, Guichard — Teng — Portello, Davis Kids Klub and Nugget Markets.

Also on board were Davis Food Co-op, University Retirement Community, First Street Real Estate, Carbahal & Company, Todd Aquilina (Wells Fargo), John Brinley Properties, Matthew Molitor, DDS/MS orthodontics, Ronald West and Benjamin West, the Lowell Wilson family, Morse Remodeling, Peak Performance and Yolo Federal Credit Union.

One More Thing: Speaking of Davis High water polo … The girls team, in a tournament at St. Francis (Mountain View), will be coached by former UC Davis and DHS standout Ariel Feeney. Why? Veteran coach Doug Wright will officiate at Christi Raycraft’s wedding on Saturday. Raycraft was a brilliant Aggie and Blue Devil attacker and has served as Wright’s assistant in past seasons.

— Bruce Gallaudet is a staff writer for The Davis Enterprise. Reach him at [email protected] or (530) 747-8047.

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