For Immediate Release

May 22, 2002

FEDERAL GRANT TO ASSIST REPAIRS
AT JARSTAD AQUATIC CENTER

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Park Service is awarding the City of Bremerton a grant of $182,280 to assist the city in upgrading the heating and ventilation system at the Glenn Jarstad Aquatic Center , U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks said Wednesday.

            The grant is being issued through the Park Service’s Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Grant program, a small portion of the Park Service budget which addresses the need to create and maintain park facilities in urban areas, the congressman said.

            The City is in the process of refurbishing the pool, named for Bremerton ’s longest serving mayor, Glenn Jarstad, who died earlier this year.  The federal grant will pay for the complete restoration of the facility’s faulty heating and ventilation system, which is currently allowing condensation to build up, adversely affecting the air quality and structural integrity of the building, according to the city’s grant request.

“The upgrade is urgently needed in order to preserve this valuable recreational asset that is used by school teams, youth groups, handicapped swimmers and senior citizens,” Rep. Dicks said.

             The grant was awarded through the National Park Service’s competitive grant program, after extensive reviews and ratings of Bremerton ’s application and proposals from urban areas around the nation.  Though the Bush Administration’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year calls for the elimination of the Urban Park program, Rep. Dicks -- the top-ranking Democrat on the House Interior appropriations subcommittee -- said he is working with congressional colleagues to restore the funding and preserve the program.

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