POULSBO — More than a year after its predicted demise, the North Kitsap Community Pool is staying afloat.

In the past 16 months, the cost for the North Kitsap School District to run the pool has fallen dramatically. While the people who manage the pool admit its successes are starting to level off, they believe the pool can continue to be a boon rather than a bane to the district and surrounding community.

“In this economy, our swimmers and pool supporters have been remarkable,” Community Pool Advisory Committee Chairwoman Jan Harrison said in an email. “Our gains last year were extraordinary. We are not making such great gains now, of course, but the point is that we continue to gain.”

In 2008, the pool was leaking cash and scheduled to close at the end of the year. Spurred by a vocal swimming community, school district administrators and advisory committee members implemented changes to the pool’s operations, hours and energy use. They began by hiring a new pool coordinator, Jake DeVries , in September 2008 and eliminating an assistant coordinator position. DeVries took the job not knowing how long he and the pool would be around, but tackled the efficiency problems head-on with the help of those around him.

“When I came I really didn’t know what to expect,” DeVries said. “I was surprised by the amount of enthusiasm around the pool when I first arrived, and that’s never died off.”

In the one-year period from September 2007 to August 2008, the school district spent $188,884, not including utility costs, to maintain the pool. During the following one-year period, the cost went down to $80,391, not including utilities. After $43,000 in donations were factored in, the district subsidy was only $37,391.

“We definitely want to work toward the pool being sustainable on its own,” DeVries said.

DeVries and advisory committee members admit they cannot rely on large donations in the future, and say the pool is not meant to be a money-making enterprise. They say its purpose is to run as efficiently as possible and offer low-cost services to the school district and local swimmers.

“We can make this pool turn a profit, but at what cost?” Harrison said. “We would drive away some of our current regulars, because they could not afford the fees. So our bigger issue is how to balance revenue generation with reasonable subsidies. It’s a challenge.”

The pool has generated most of its savings by adding new swim camps, raising pool-use fees, requiring community swim teams to be self-sufficient and installing new, energy-saving equipment.

Prior to January 2009, local swim teams Poulsbo Piranhas and Kitsap Water Blossoms were subsidized by the district. The district has lost revenue since the teams became self-sufficient, but it has also spent less to accommodate them.

Last spring, the district installed solar panels, a new boiler and a new air exchange system to save on energy costs. In April 2009, the pool’s utility costs were $14,309. The following month, they sank to $8,683. By December they were $5,250.

Revenues from swim lessons shrank last fall, but DeVries said lessons for February were actually overbooked.

“I think the pool is in a way better place than it was even last spring,” he said. “There’s ups and downs in any business.”

Swim camps, which take place every time the district lets students out for learning improvement days, have also increased revenues.

“The gains made last year are not one-time gains,” Randy Borek, a member of the advisory committee, said in an email. “They are gains that will continue every year so the savings to the district is continual. We have saved the district money for many, many years to come.”

Still, the committee and school district continue seeking additional money-saving practices, including partnerships with outside organizations to host open swims and contests.

“We’ve already picked the low-hanging fruit,” Harrison said. “Now we have to climb a little higher and pick the smaller, harder-to-reach fruit.”