EDITORIAL
It's worth preserving public sports amenities

It seems far more desirable to keep up a popular swimming pool for kids than to build another office building.

Third-graders at Wailuku Elementary School are mounting a petition drive to save the Old Wailuku Pool, a public pool that Maui County leases from a hui known as Market Wells Hui II LLC for $1 a month.

The hui has been quite generous for charging so little rent, and certainly can't be faulted for wanting to make more money on its property investment by developing an office building on the site.

But office buildings are a dime a dozen and public swimming pools are not, so it's worth fighting to keep the pool for the sake of the community, especially the kids.

The hui has given the county first crack at buying the property for $1 million, or $700,000 cash, plus a $300,000 tax credit.

Whether or not this fix is the result of decisions made by the previous administration we hope the county considers taking the hui up on its offer, or at least negotiates a deal to keep the pool going, for the sake of the community's young swimmers.