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Life isn't the same without a pool

By MARLON A. WALKER
Published March 29, 2006

SEMINOLE - Patrick "Rusty" Ackerman would receive phone calls during the day, and his roommate always had the same answer for the callers.

"Well, Rusty's swimming," Ackerman, 41, recalled through interpreter Linda Losacano.

The Deaf & Hearing Connection of Tampa Bay, a nonprofit that manages the Bayou Courtyard Apartments, where Ackerman lives, recently closed the onsite pool. Ever since, Ackerman has been relegated to spending his days sitting in a chair in the kitchen of his third-floor apartment.

It's all he can do since the pool was closed, he says. "I sit like I'm in prison," he said from his apartment last week.

DHC serves the deaf and hearing impaired in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. It gives hearing tests, distributes devices that assist those who are hard of hearing, offers counseling and helps with job searching. The group depends on donations, government assistance and fundraising, among other things, to stay afloat.

The pool, the main recreation at the complex occupied mostly by deaf or hearing impaired residents, has been closed sporadically over the last four or five years, Ackerman said. About two years ago, it closed. Period.

Ackerman is almost completely blind and his interpreter must use tactile communication. He couldn't see the pool's condition clearly.

Ackerman and other residents were told that pool costs were too much to handle. Several residents got together and held two carwash fundraisers. Ackerman said they grossed about $900 and gave it to the DHC. He said he doesn't know what the money was used for.

According to DHC officials, costs to keep the pool functioning were overwhelming. It would have taken $20,000 to get the pool back in working condition, and another $10,000 for annual upkeep. Director Julie Church said the land is being converted into a picnic area that should be able to be used by all the residents.

[Last modified March 29, 2006, 01:23:20]