The La Quinta City Council voted to temporarily move pool programs from Fritz Burns Park in La Quinta to the Pawley Pool Family Aquatic Complex in Indio for seven months starting this November.
“The Fritz Burns Park improvement project began [this month], and that includes some very extensive renovations, not just to the park but the pool as well,” Michael Calderon, senior management analyst for the City of La Quinta’s Community Services department, said. “So, during construction at the pool itself, that’s going to be [from] November 2025 through May 2026, pool programs won’t be able to continue, because they’ll be doing construction there.”
Because of that construction, city staff recommended relocating the pool programs to the Pawley Pool Family Aquatic Complex in Indio, roughly 8 miles away, at an estimated total cost of $121,905. Both facilities are managed by the Desert Recreation District (DRD), which has overseen the pool at Fritz Burns Park since 2024.
Calderon said operating Fritz Burns Pool for seven months cost about $100,000, making the Indio facility a little more expensive. However, with Fritz Burns Pool being closed, Calderon said the city was looking at a savings of about $111,000, meaning the actual increased cost to the city would be about $10,000 to relocate the pool’s programming to Indio.
“This doesn’t include the revenue generation, so the revenue that’s generated from the programs goes to help offset pool costs as well, so there should be some savings in that capacity also,” he said.
Stay up to date with the latest from The Record. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter today!
One of the biggest concerns for the council was whether people would continue to participate in the pool’s programming even though it would be at a different location, one that’s typically closed during those months.
“We already know the outcome of how humans behave,” Councilmember Steve Sanchez said. “If we say we’re going to do this thing, I give people a month, and if we’re not having the same consistency of people going, I think we shut it down, because it’s just not going to happen from there.”
On the flip side, the council was also worried about losing something that community members had come to count on being available year round.
“I’m concerned with the loss of the program and the social aspect of the program,” Councilmember Kathleen Fitzpatrick said. “I wish I had a better comfort level that a large number of these people will go over to Pawley Pool, and my sense is because I haven’t gotten the usual number of emails that I get…that the impact hasn’t hit them yet.”
Ultimately, the council agreed to move forward with moving programs over to Pawley Pool during the construction at Fritz Burns Pool on a trial basis with DRD providing monthly reports to the council about attendance and participation.
Fees for programming will remain the same, as will the schedule, and programs will continue to be open for anyone who wants to attend, according to DRD Community Services Supervisor Maureen Archuleta.
“It is going to be a lifestyle change, which is something that if we see that the numbers are low, then we’ll report that and work with the city to make adjustments,” Archuleta said.
In other council action: The council selected artist John Cuevas of Palm Desert for the Silverrock Park mural project. Earlier this year, the city of Indio selected Cuevas for its Center Stage mural project, which is currently in progress, according to his Instagram page.
The council also voted to award Tomm Belanich, also known as Too Tall Tomm, a community services award for his involvement with local non-profit organizations and events. He will be recognized at a future council meeting.
The Riverside Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet providing Riverside County with high-quality journalism free of charge. We’re able to do this because of the generous donations of supporters like you!