Amber Bobnar said her 4-year-old son Ivan is a different boy when he's swimming in the heated waters of the therapeutic pool at the Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center.
"For some reason, he just seems to come alive," she said.
Ivan has a rare genetic disorder known as Joubert Syndrome, which affects his muscles, coordination, and mental development. He is blind and cannot walk on his own and has limited use of his muscles.
Bobnar, who lives in Watertown, said because Ivan has low muscle tone and weak circulation, he also can't swim in a non-heated pool. If he did, she said he would turn blue almost immediately. So the pool at Fernald's Greene Building is essential.
But Bobnar will soon likely have to find another pool for Ivan.
While the state plans to close Fernald by July, the Greene building, used mostly by people who don't live at Fernald, will be closed even earlier.
Paulette Song, spokeswoman for the Department of Developmental Services, said the Greene Building will likely be shut down sometime next month as part of the state's plan to close Fernald.
The state says Fernald, the nation's oldest publicly funded institution for the developmentally disabled, is too costly to run. Plans to close it have been in the works since 2003.
Long-time residents are now being moved to community settings or other institutions.
At a recent meeting of the Fernald Reuse Committee, Dana Harrell, real estate services director for the state Division of Capital Asset Management, was asked by city officials if the Greene Building was closing soon.
"There is an indication (the Department of Developmental Services) has no capital to maintain that building or the pool," Harrell said.
Mayor Jeannette McCarthy said if the state is going to shut down the Greene Building, she wants the city to get the building and make use of the pool.
"I would like to have something for North Waltham recreation," McCarthy said.
Bobnar said she doesn't know why the state would close the pool when it's so popular. Whenever she takes Ivan there, she said the pool is "always packed" with everyone from autistic children to geriatric patients with Alzheimer's disease using the facility.
"It seems like such a shame because it is such a great resource, because it's there and it's used and it is in good shape," Bobnar said. "It just doesn't make sense to shut it down."
