The plug is about to be pulled on a swimming pool because of a cash crisis.
School governors at Hothfield Street Junior and Aire View Infants Schools in Silsden have written to parents and supporters of the pool to say it will close at Easter unless it receives a cash injection.
A £25,000 grant from the Foundation for Sport and the Arts was to be used for refurbishing the pool, which is at Hothfield Street School, and the building of a new changing room.
However, at an early stage of construction a large sewer pipe was discovered under the site for the changing room. This did not appear on the original plans provided by Yorkshire Water.
To go ahead with the planned extension the sewer would have to be diverted at a cost of £10,000, which the governors says the schools cannot afford.
Building work cannot now go ahead. The grant is only available if the extra changing room is built. And the school is now left with urgent repairs and refurbishment which would have been covered by the grant. The school will now have to find that money.
The letter to parents explains that old and broken equipment has been replaced from money donated to the fund set up to help save the pool over recent years. The proceeds from a raffle will go towards an urgent repair for the heat exchange unit for the pool heating.
The governors also say that a percentage of parents from both schools have chosen not to make voluntary contributions towards swimming.
Bradford council pays for the heating, lighting, and the caretakers hours to look after the pool. But current contributions from parents barely cover the instructor's salary.
The pool has been threatened with closure before following Bradford council spending cuts.
Hothfield Street head-teacher James-ine Welch stresses parents would not be to blame for the closure. "Bradford council took away our funding for a swimming teacher and so we had to finance it ourselves," she says. "Legally, we cannot charge for swimming lessons. We can only ask for contributions. Unfortunately, these contributions are very low at the moment."
Mrs Welch also says that, coupled with high maintenance costs, she cannot continue to take money from the school's education budget.
"While swimming is an important part of school, the education element is much more important."
She added that Bradford council would provide any additional funding and if the pool was to close then it is highly unlikely to ever re-open.
Former parish council chairman Michael Anderson launched a campaign to keep it open by organising various events during his time in office. It would be a crying shame if the pool was closed," he says. "But I wonder how much longer the people of Silsden who are not connected with the school can go on supporting it."
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