The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

PRESCOTT - The public swimming pool in Prescott got a huge lift from a recent $54,000 grant earmarked by the Sherwood Trust for capital improvements to the facility. The grant, the largest ever received by the Prescott Joint Park and Recreation District, is equal to half the agency's total 2013 budget of $110,400 approved through a city levy initiative earlier this year.

"We're delighted," said Patsy Adams Warnock, the district's chair. "It makes us feel our hard work has been seen by others and they real- ize this pool is such an impor- tant part of our community."

In its grant notification letter to the district, the Sher- wood Trust stipulated that $44,000 of the grant is to be used for high-priority swimming pool improvement, including the purchase of a new boiler and other critical equipment, Adams Warnock said.

The remaining $10,000 is to be set aside as seed money to develop a Replace- ment Reserve Fund for other future capital expenditures, she said. Since the pool was built in 1958, the aging facil- ity needs frequent updates, upgrades and replacements every year.

"We applaud your dedica- tion and perseverance to continue to build a quality program for the youth of the community and wish you the best," the trust wrote in its notification letter to the district.

At the time of the grant presentation, a representative of the Sherwood Trust told district officials that "the Prescott pool and park are more than just a place to swim and play. We see this recreation facility as the heart of the community and realize how important it is to the people who live in and around Prescott."

Under the trust's grant conditions, the funds cannot be used for operational costs for the pool or the park, so the annual M&O levy will still be necessary to cover those expenses, Adams War- nock said.

Prescott voters passed this year's levy passed by 64 percent, exceeding the 60 percent required for such a ballot measure. The levy amounts to 45 cents per $1,000 of assessed home valuation.