Moms Hope to Halt Demolition of Pool

For the last three years, a group of more than a dozen Thousand Oaks moms have often taken their young children to the Janss Pool on Fridays to relax and cool off.

This summer may be their last at the pool, however. It is scheduled to be demolished as part of the city’s $10-million rehabilitation of the neighboring Los Robles Golf Course scheduled to begin next summer.

Funding for the improvement project, the first for the course in 30 years, was approved by the City Council last month.

But some are going to miss the pool. For Tracey Farr Hannel, 36, the pool was a fun place where she could take her three young children, ages 1, 4 and 6.

“There aren’t very many public pools in Thousand Oaks. The ones that are here are really big and crowded,” Hannel said. “It’s like having a backyard pool for people who don’t have a backyard pool.”

After finding out just a few weeks ago that the pool would close, Hannel and the other moms in her group decided to collect signatures on a petition in an effort to persuade the city to spare it. Hannel plans to take her plea to City Council next month.

“It’s really a beautiful resource, but to close it down to expand the golf course just doesn’t make sense,” she said.

City officials say closing the pool makes sense. The fee the city charges to rent the pool to groups doesn’t cover maintenance costs, despite the fact it is rented most days during the summer. It costs $15,000 a year to maintain the pool, but the city earns only $5,000 from fees, officials said.