Mineola, NY-The Nassau County Legislature's Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury) has issued a report on the Nassau County Aquatic Center investigative hearing, held on October 1, and has recommended that the pool not be closed or privatized. Instead, she states, revenue-producing ideas like sponsorships and a day camp, coupled with a major marketing campaign, might turn the pool around financially.

"This pool should not be privatized at this point," Jacobs said. "We have not even begun to tap the resources out there to make this world-class facility a well-known recreational source available to Nassau County residents."

Other suggestions in the report include:

• Receive bids on naming rights
• Sell sponsorships for inside the facility
• Make pool membership a part of an Eisenhower Park package
• Allow schools to use the facility
• Encourage use of the pool by day camps on rainy summer days
• Increase maintenance to avoid further deterioration
• Increase health club fees and relocate club to more spacious area, with improved equipment.
• Encourage meetings and civic groups to utilize the VIP room
• Improve concessions for food, mementos and equipment
• Form a Camp Eisenhower in the summer
• When people apply for a park permit, suggest a full day pass to pool.
• Advertise for birthday parties and other events at the facility.

Back in October, Presiding Officer Jacobs, along with fellow Democratic lawmakers, conducted a hearing on the fiscal health and future of the Eisenhower Aquatic Center, a state-of-the-art facility built in 1998 for the Goodwill Games. The Aquatic Center costs taxpayers about $2 million a year, a drain that the County cannot afford during these difficult financial times.