The closure of the Evergreen Pool on August 31 ended its nearly 40 years of community service.

Now, the students who attend Evergreen High School will walk by a boarded up and fenced facility, where many of them learned to swim, find recreation and social activity. Below the Evergreen Pool, the King County Park playing field, also being closed, is outlined by "crime scene" yellow plastic.

Over 100 pool supporters attended a spontaneous "rally" for the pool on the evening of its closure. They waved signs they created and told of their own relationships with the pool.

One young man invited us all to "jump in" as he did, fully clothed. (We didn't.) The names of the staff that have earned the respect and affection of pool users over recent years were read. No golden parachute or even compensation for unused sick time was available to soften their job loss.

However, they were there to keep the pool open and everyone safe to the end, even as they were packing up the office.

How can one describe the value of a pool to those who have not participated in aquatic sports, recreation, training or therapy?

Among those who have benefited from pool activities are those who have learned to swim and who gained the confidence that provides, those who have become competitive swimmers, those whose received relief for pain in joints and post surgery, those who came to seek the soothing of water for grief and post-traumatic stress, those whose wounds from the violence of war were helped to heal, those who found companionship, those who learned how to rescue someone from drowning and those whose differences in body build or physical ability were given a "level playing field."

These closures are indeed crimes of negligence. Implicated in this negligence is our extremely regressive tax system, the failure of King County to designate the pool as a "regional" facility, the failure of the Burien annexation plan to include the pool and park, and finally lack of citizen attention and participation in these decisions.

One thing is certain: if we want the benefits of democracy, it is not enough to vote. It is well to heed the advice of the young man at the closure of the Evergreen Pool: "Jump In."

Rachael Levine
North Highline