OCTOBER 2007, AROUND THE STATE
Cove Springs: After all these years, the
water’s still fine
COVE
There’s an update going on at the historic Cove Warm
Springs Pool, but traditionalists can relax: No drastic changes
are planned.
Robert Pratt, the retired college professor who moved to Cove
from Spokane after he bought the 25-acre property nearly three
years ago, says he decided to postpone plans to develop a small
RV park after he got the cost estimate. He did, however, expand
the bathrooms in the bathhouse to make them handicapped
accessible.
The RV park was Pratt’s most elaborate development plan
for what he admits is kind of a low-key operation. His
motto: “We keep it clean, but we don’t have a lot
of amenities.”
“I am pushing ahead with heating the dressing rooms this
winter,” Pratt says. He’s also putting in showers.
“That’s a big step for this place.” Pratt is
hoping to attract year-round swimmers to the pool, located in
the center of Cove, a city of 680 residents about 15 miles east
of La Grande.
The spring’s history is hefty. Indians, and later
trappers and mountain men, used the warm springs pool, which
bubbles out of the earth at a comfortable 86 degrees.
About 80 years ago, a swimming pool was dug to enclose the
springs, which flow directly into the pool’s bottom.
The spring’s high volume and the pool’s unique
construction — the warm water that bubbles up at the
bottom of the pool and flows out over the top — negates
the need for chlorine. “It refreshes itself every 12
hours or so,” says Pratt, who is only the pool’s
fourth owner.
Turns out ’07 was a busy season for Pratt, who expects
his annual earnings to be around $40,000, money he says goes
right back into improvements. Admission to the pool costs $2
for kids from 1 to 6, $4.50 for seniors and older kids, and $6
for adults.
Pratt is seeing a growing stream of hot-springs enthusiasts,
bringing all sorts to Cove’s shores. Says Pratt:
“They’re enjoyable to talk to.”
JEANIE SENIOR
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