Weather and old age have worn out the plastic bubble that created a wintertime oasis around the Woodacre Improvement Club's swimming pool.
And should water-heating costs increase this year, members may be asked to pay dues early, make donations, or - in a worst case - the pool may close for part of the winter, said Thelma Weiss, club president.
"Wind and wear-and-tear have thrashed [the bubble]," Weiss said. "We're not going to be able to use it...We don't have the money to replace it."
Since 1984, the flexible, 12-foot high cover was kept inflated by electric fans, creating a warm-air room around the heated pool between October and May. While it cost $9,700 for a bubble 10 years ago, the cost for a new cover would be about $20,000, said Marylu Giddings, a board member.
The club's 258 members are mainly residents in the San Geronimo Valley, Fairfax, and even Bolinas, said Manager Ann Jones, the club's only employee besides a parttime bookkeeper. Each member pays a share of the annual operating costs, she said, with annual dues ranging from $252 for seniors to $593 for a family.
Dues are routinely used only for operating expenses, with no money set aside for capital improvements or long-term expenses, such as the bubble, said board President Weiss.
Cost and savings of having a bubble or not remain uncertain, Weiss said. There will be less power cost without the fans, but propane charges for heating water this January alone were $3,300 - with the bubble up.
While warm air is comfortable for swimmers, the bubble was not without its problems, said Manager Jones.
"Some members are concerned that they are going to freeze," Jones said. "But a lot of them are pleased. It was humid inside the bubble, and it captured the chlorine fumes."
In addition, she said, there has been a problem with non-members, including adults, who sneak into the swimming area to party at night.
Another problem is that bubble collapses every time there is a blackout, Jones and Giddings said, and the fire department next door is no longer willing to empty water from the sagging bubble or help re-inflate it.
"If we could afford a bubble, we also have to afford the manpower to put it up and down, Giddings said. "Without [firefighters'] muscles, it's a whole big pile of fabric."