While at first she was unsure as to the state’s next move, a spokesperson said the Washington Parks and Recreation Commission intends to try and find yet another new operator for the Carole Ann Wald Pool in Kenmore’s St. Edward State Park.

“We are going to see if we can find somebody to run the pool,” said the commission’s Virginia Painter.

Painter made her remarks early last week, about two weeks after the current operator of the Wald pool said it would be opting out of its state contract as of Dec. 31.

Painter didn’t say if state officials had set a deadline for finding a new operator. Presumably, if someone does not step forward by Dec. 31, the pool will close at least temporarily.

“It is clear we can’t subsidize the operation ourselves,” Painter said.

Currently, pool operations are linked to operation of an adjacent gymnasium, a facility termed as “little used” by a spokesperson for the pool’s current state contract holder, West Coast Aquatics.

Vice president of the West Coast board of directors, Mike McGinnis said the added responsibility of the gym, as well as a “shared” space in the St. Edward seminary building, contributed to the financial difficulties that ultimately led the nonprofit to vacate its contract.

In a press release announcing their decision, West Coast leaders said the cost of maintaining and heating the pool and the accompanying areas was more than expected and simply too much for the group to afford. If another operator surfaces, they might not face some of the difficulties encountered by West Coast. Painter said state officials are willing to entertain separating the pool from the gym.

“We are exploring options and we are looking at alterations within the current contract,” she said.

Painter didn’t go into details on the state’s approach to finding a new operator.

“We are putting the word out through the regular process,” she said.

Early this year when the operator prior to West Coast walked away from the pool, the state sent out a request for proposals — apparently requesting specific operational plans — from potentially interested parties. The process took some time and the pool was closed from Feb. 22 to May 23.

The operators of a pool and swim team in Mill Creek, West Coast announced its decision to cut its ties to the Wald pool in a press release given out Nov. 25. Just as McGinnis stated, the press release named financial considerations as the key difficulty connected with West Coast’s running of the pool. McGinnis later added that utility costs — water and heating — played a major role.

“We’re just a small little nonprofit swim team,” he said. “What we thought was going to be simple, wasn’t.”

McGinnis said one problem is the fact one utility meter apparently keeps track of pool-related costs, as well as costs connected to theoretically separate operations. McGinnis described the situation as inequitable to the pool operator, but also later added another reason for high utility costs is the inefficiency of the pool building and its mechanical equipment.

“Unfortunately, the outgoing management team did not supply us with historical expenditure records,” McGinnis added. He said West Coast officials simply may not have completed as much due diligence as ultimately was needed, that the pool has a mounting list of needed repairs.

In a city press release acknowledging West Coast’s intentions, Kenmore City Manager Frederick Stouder said the group unsuccessfully tried to renegotiate its agreement with the state. According to Stouder, state recreation officials simply declined to reopen West Coast’s contract. Still, McGinnis pointedly declined to blame the state for his organization’s difficulties in running the pool.

“We know that the state did everything within its means,” he said.

McGinnis declined to talk about the number of visitors to the pool, about whether or not he feels there is sufficient demand to keep the facility open.

“It’s got some great potential,” he did say. “We’re just very disappointed we can’t keep going.”

Seattle’s Northwest Center was the previous operator of the Wald pool and until fairly recently the Ruiz-Costie/Northshore Pool in Bothell. In the case of the Wald pool, Northwest officials said they were losing some $50,000 annually on pool operations. The Bothell facility was costing them another $50,000. That pool closed, possibly permanently, on Aug. 31.