FORT BENTON — Maycee Ort is 13 years old and loves swimming at the Fort Benton pool.
Ort said, “I'm normally out here every day.”
The pool has been a staple of her summers her whole life.
Ort said, “Being able to swim with my friends doing backflips off the diving board is pretty fun.”
But on Monday, her summer plans were put in jeopardy.
Ort said, “I was kind of upset, but I understood why.”
It should take about two weeks for a pool to go through a barrel of chemicals. But with the current state of the Fort Benton pool, that time frame has been reduced to just a few days.
Amanda Brown, Fort Benton’s Pool Manager said, “We're just losing a lot of water, which the water contains the chemicals, so we're losing the water and the chemicals all at the same time.”
Brown has managed other pools across Montana, and said that faulting infrastructure in pools is a statewide issue.
Brown said, “It's just kind of what it is, unfortunately.”
The city of Fort Benton announced on Monday afternoon that they would have to shut the pool down on Wednesday. By Tuesday morning, citizens had gathered at the city hall for an emergency meeting.
Roger Axtman, Fort Benton City Council President said, “One of the major decisions is we’re going to try and get the pool and limp it along until we can after this big swim meet.”
Axtman explained that the swim meet is July 19-20, but getting there will be strenuous.
Axtman said, “Yeah we'll be able to make it, but it's just conditionally getting into next year's budget.”
After that, the pool will close, and the city will work on a long term solution.
Axtman said, “We’re just dealing with dated infrastructure, unfortunately.”
The infrastructure is a problem absolutely worth solving, as the pool is a necessity in Fort Benton.
Brown said, “We don't want kids in rivers, canals. And so it's super important for kids to be in the pool so that they can be watched and made sure that they are safe.”
This way, kids like Ort can continue to make summer memories.
Ort said, “I would say that it would be important to the community and it would help kids get out of their rooms more than just sit in their rooms on their phones.”
Once there is more information on funding and donations, it will be posted on the Fort Benton website.
