Local pools, including Toledo’s Roosevelt Pool, will open this month after a long, hot spring.
The weather usually isn’t nice enough by early June for people to be so excited, but Maumee Public Service Director Joe Camp said this pool season is looking warmer.
Unlike 2009, when attendance at Rolf Park Pool, 2115 Cass Road, dropped because of the economic slump and cooler temperatures, Camp expects the customary 19,000-23,000 visits this summer because of the anticipated hotter weather.
Admission to the Maumee pool is a bit more expensive than to Toledo-run pools, but Camp said the experience is more like a waterpark.
“We have three slides, the diving board and the play structure,” he said.
The eighth season for the pool will start June 2 with hours from noon to 6:45 p.m. weekdays and noon to 5:45 p.m. weekends. Daily admission is $8 for those 48 inches or taller and $5 for those shorter.
Camp said individual memberships are $50 for those who live within the city limits of Maumee or within the school district boundaries. Just because a person’s mailing address is Maumee doesn’t mean he or she lives within the corporate limits, though, he said.
Toledo City Pools open later in the month. The city’s seven pools open June 19 and will be available for swimming noon to 6 p.m. most days. The prices are $1-$2 and free at the Savage Splash Pad.
One highlight of this year is the reopening of the Roosevelt Pool at Smith Park. The pool was destroyed by vandals in 2009.
“The pools definitely contribute to our quality of life in the city,” said city Public Information Officer Jen Sorgenfrei in an email. “It’s an amenity thatmost communities offer their citizens, so even in difficult budget times we have worked really hard to maintain access to pools throughout the city.”
Sorgenfrei said former Council President Wilma Brown pushed for the reopening of Roosevelt, and Councilman Tyrone Riley has also stressed the importance of having a pool.
Pool attendance varies each year, with a total of 57,261 visits in 2002compared to 23,269 in 2011.
Along with the weather, the number of pools opened annually affects total attendance. City pools had 12,434 visits in 2009, which was a cooler summer.
Another area pool about readyto open for the summer is the Perrysburg City Pool, 915 Elm St.
The pool will open June 9 with hours 1-8:30 p.m. daily. Pool passes are available to city residents ($70) or school district residents ($140). Those who aren’t residents can purchase a single-day pass for $10.Those 5 and younger are free.
