To the editor:

By now we’ve all heard lots of reasons to keep the North Country Community College pool open. All those reasons boil down to one thing.

NCCC pool SAVES LIVES.

The NCCC pool SAVES LIVES by being a place to hold Red Cross lifeguard classes. I’ve been told that it is the only pool in the Tri-Lakes deep enough for these classes.

The NCCC pool SAVES LIVES by being a safe, inviting place for non-swimmers to become swimmers. Our lakes aren’t a practical place to hold swim lessons since they are usually not very warm. It is hard enough to learn to swim in a warm pool. It can’t be very enticing to non-swimmers to show up for a swim lesson in a cold lake on a cool summer day.

The NCCC pool SAVES LIVES by being a place to safely learn to handle a kayak.

The NCCC pool SAVES LIVES by being a place to safely learn to scuba dive.

The NCCC pool SAVES LIVES because firefighters and rangers can practice water rescues there.

I’ve heard that if the pool is removed, it will be replaced with locker rooms, a weight room and possibly a dance studio.

New locker rooms would be nice, but not life saving.

I suppose you could say that a new weight room or dance studio could save a life by offering people a place to become fitter. But there are other places in our area to dance and lift weights. There is no other pool in our area that can offer all that the NCCC pool does.

For me, a swim in the NCCC pool improves my physical and mental fitness. I am very grateful to have access to a place to swim for the approximately nine months a year when I can’t swim outdoors. Even when I am swimming at the Lake Placid public beach I am grateful to NCCC because that is where many of the beach lifeguards are trained and recertified.

NCCC, please keep this LIFE-SAVING pool open.

Ann Richardson

Lake Placid