Will these Columbus city pools be open before kids go back to school late this summer?
Three Columbus pools won’t reopen until at least mid summer due to delays in repairs and two are not likely to open until kids are almost back to school or even after classes start.
Columbus city manager Isaiah Hugley recently announced updated opening dates for three local pools currently undergoing work. Hugley provided the following opening timelines during the “Let’s Talk with the Mayor” community forum in March:
The Rigdon Park pool will open in July 2024.
The Shirley Winston pool will open in August 2024.
The Psalmond Road pool will open in September 2024.
Hugley attributed the delays to supply chain issues and trouble finding contractors that could construct the pools in a timely manner.
These three pools were closed for the summer of 2023 as they were scheduled to be demolished and replaced with new pools at these locations, according to Ledger-Enquirer reporting.
Five pools are operated by the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department. Those pools include the three aforementioned pools, the Double Churches pool and the Columbus Aquatic Center.
These pools were described as being closed due to cracks in pipes leaking large amounts of water, according to the Columbus Parks and Recreation website at the time.
The Psalmond Road and Shirley Winston pool had previously been closed in the summers of 2018 and 2019 due to repairs, according to Ledger-Enquirer reporting.
These pools originally had an anticipated opening date of Memorial Day 2024, according to Ledger-Enquirer reporting.
The first day of class for the Muscogee County School District is August 8, according to the 2024-2025 school year calendar found on the school district’s website.
Effects of having pool closed
One of the pools that will be closed is the Rigdon Park pool located in the Oakland Park neighborhood in South Columbus. This area is located within the 31903 area code with one of highest rates of serious crimes.
Reggie Lewis, co-founder of Cure Violence Columbus, said “It’s one of the facilities where the kids can spend time, stay out of trouble and be engaged in something that’s a fun activity and not necessarily something where they’re idle and getting into trouble that we see now in our community.”
Lewis said Oakland Park has around 5,000 people living in that area with a poverty rate of 35%. He said some parents in the area may have to work two or three jobs and these pools give juveniles in the area a place to go.
He said facilities like recreation centers and others allow the juveniles in the area to stay away from an idle mind and keep them from resorting to mischievous behavior.
Lewis said there’s some hopelessness in these areas and said, “It (the pools) being closed, they’re (the kids in these areas) probably thinking, ‘here we go again.’”
“You look in that area, they’re faced with a lot of different barriers,” said Lewis.
“You have parents that are trying to work, kids that don’t have, really, guardians or somebody who’s watching them,” he said. “It just sets the stage for more activity to kick off.”
Lewis said he hopes that Cure Violence Columbus can get a program running with Parks and Recreation for the children in these areas.
This story was originally published April 3, 2024 at 3:43 PM.