The keys to Evergreen Pool in White Center could soon be turned from King County to Northwest Center.

The nonprofit Northwest Center is a 41-year-old organization that claims to be the largest, most comprehensive private organization in the Pacific Northwest offering services for disabled people. It helps about 500 people a day.

Northwest Center has taken over other King County pools but little is known so far of the organization's plans for Evergreen Pool.

Northwest Center currently owns and operates swimming pools in Mercer Island, Bothell, Redmond and Kenmore. Some of those facilities originally were King County pools.

King County is following its long-range plan to focus increasingly on regional issues and less on local matters, such as operating swimming pools. King County has been turning over ownership of its public swimming pools since 2002, said Kevin Brown, director of King County Parks. Eleven former county pools are now owned by the cities in which they are located, including Federal Way, Des Moines, Kent, Auburn, Mercer Island, Redmond, Enumclaw and other communities.

The Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center will remain a King County-owned facility because national and international events are held there, Brown said.

Evergreen and Renton pools are the only other indoor pools King County still owns while Cottage Lake Pool and Vashon Pool are its only outdoor pools.

King County hopes to turn over ownership and management of Evergreen Pool to Northwest Center by next fall.

Northwest Center was founded in 1965 by families of children with disabilities. Its credo is everybody has the right to pursue an education, training and employment. The organization offers employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

Brown vouched for the way Northwest Center manages the other King County pools it has taken over. The nonprofit agency has continued the swimming programs it inherited from the county, he said.

"Northwest Center is very good at working with the communities," Brown said.

Evergreen Pool was built by King County with money from the Forward Thrust bond program of the 1960s and '70s. The building is owned and operated by King County.

The land where the pool stands is owned by the Highline School District, which leased the site to the county on a long-term basis, explained Geri Fain, assistant superintendent of support services.

Although Evergreen High School and Cascade Middle School are nearby, the pool is not used by the schools for physical education classes. However the swimming teams from Evergreen and Highline high schools both use the pool for practices and meets.

As for the general public, Evergreen Pool currently offers swimming lessons for people of all water abilities, from age 6 months and up. There are also specialty classes such as lifeguard training, diving and CPR. Private and semiprivate lessons are available.

There are also water aerobics and other water-related exercise programs.

More discussions about the takeover of Evergreen Pool will be held in the coming weeks.

Tim St. Clair can be reached at tstclair@robinsonnews.com or 932-0300.