Back in the mid 2000s, Town of Cary was actively considering an aquatics center.  It even had an official tracking number, name, and $10 million+ budget line – PR1080 Aquatic Facility. There were meetings about the facility and much debate about the size, scope, and location of the project.  However by January 2008 the planning had stalled and the Town Council requested staff look for additional locations for the PR1080 Aquatic Facility in the north Cary and the downtown Cary area. Town Council also requested staff to develop additional program alternatives.

Then things went pretty quiet.  In December 2009 the project was unceremoniously put in “Delay” status. Later in 2011 funding was reduced to $13,474,200. Finally in the 2013 budget, the PR1080 Aquatics Center project was marked as closed.  Why was it closed?  No clue.  Searching the Town of Cary website usually returns some useful results.  But I can’t find anything about why it was removed from the budget.  I even asked Mayor Weinbrecht where it went but all he could provide was, “I do believe an aquatics center is part of the Parks Master Plan.”  Sure, the plan mentions aquatics facilities (it mentions lots of nice things we might someday get) but it doesn’t address where the PR1080 Aquatic Facility project went and where all the budgeted money went.

Then this week I found something quite interesting.  A blog post from Don Frantz announcing his bid for re-election mentioned the pool.

I championed the redevelopment of Cary Elementary into The Cary Arts Center which we paid for with cash that a previous council had earmarked for a pool.

So that’s where the money went.  But why on earth is there nothing on the Town of Cary website about this?  I’ve searched meeting minutes, Town Council agendas, staff recommendations, budget documents, etc and I couldn’t find anything. But thanks to Don’s blog post, it’s finally public where the aquatics center project money went.  And to be clear, I have nothing against the Cary Arts Center – I just wish there had been more public discussion about where the funding for the Arts Center was coming from and what was being sacrificed to achieve it.