Mattocks Pool set to open Monday

EL DORADO — Weather permitting, the Mattocks Park swimming pool will open for business at 9 a.m. on Monday.

Ray Johnson, city sanitation supervisor, said the pool has passed inspection by the Arkansas Department of Health on Wednesday.

On the same day, Johnson told members of the El Dorado Parks and Playgrounds Commission that work to prepare the pool for its traditional Memorial Day opening — including the annual inspection — was running well ahead of schedule. For decades, children and adults have flocked to the city’s only public swimming pool to take a cool dip during the

summer, and Johnson said he expects this summer to be no different.

He reported that the pool averaged 127 swimmers per day in 2016, noting that the pool’s capacity is 55. The daily

average is up from just over 100 in 2015.

“And we’re working on getting the concession stand open (this year),” Johnson later told a News-Times reporter.

Johnson said a celebration event is also being planned at the pool later in the summer.

He thanked Lanxess, formerly Great Lakes Solutions, for its continued

support of the Mattocks Pool and the city by providing the chemicals that are needed to operate the pool each summer.

Johnson pointed to the extended weather forecast, which calls for some precipitation on Memorial Day.

“Hopefully, the rain will hold off, too. They said we’re supposed to

get some more rain on Monday,” he said.

The pool will be open throughout the summer from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. each day, except Sunday and Wednesday.

Admission is free for the Mattocks Park pool.