North Side residents push to open local pool
Pittsburgh’s Department of Parks and Recreation recently announced 11 city pools will open starting Saturday. That number was an uptick from last summer, when a deep shortage of lifeguards forced the city to close 10 of its 18 pools.
Notably absent from the list is the Sue Murray Pool in Allegheny Commons Park on the North Side.
City officials cited safety concerns coupled with the persistent lifeguard shortage as reasons for closing Sue Murray. According to Kathryn Vargas, the acting director of parks and recreation, Pittsburgh police recorded 58 calls for emergency services to the pool in 2021.
Thirty-four of those calls were phoned in by bystanders, and they included 13 incidents involving drug overdoses, disorderly conduct, trespassing and fights.
But Leeann Younger, the lead pastor of Cityview Church in East Allegheny, said the numbers the parks department used to inform its decision to close the pool require context.
Only six of the calls that officers responded to last year ultimately resulted in the filing of a police report, she said. In 2019, five police reports were filed. Sue Murray was also the only city pool open on the North Side last year, upping traffic from previous summers.
“The narrative of the North Side is something that the North Side has been combating forever,” Ms. Younger said. “In addressing public safety, we need to get to the facts and not the inflamed narrative.”
When she heard Sue Murray was off the list of city pools scheduled to open on Saturday, Ms. Younger grew worried about the fallout for the community, especially for kids who head to the pool on hot days. She started making calls.
“We made it our collective goal to take this task on for the
kids who really need the pool to be open,” she said.
On Monday, Ms. Younger gathered together about a dozen community leaders and neighbors for an hourlong Zoom meeting to strategize ways to open Sue Murray safely this summer. Councilman Bobby Wilson, whose district includes the pool, was in attendance.
Mr. Wilson called the meeting “solutions oriented.” The focus, he and Ms. Younger said, was on filling the gaps in lifeguard staff, coordinating a measured public safety response, and raising funds from private donors and foundations to make the lifeguarding gig and other onsite mentorship roles more attractive to adults.
“Families living close by need to see that the city cares about their neighborhood thriving,” Mr. Wilson said. “We all know how much joy and happiness comes when you’re swimming with your friends.”
For now, Allegheny Center residents will have to leave their neighborhood this summer to cool off in the water.
A free shuttle, running hourly six days a week from Sue Murray to Riverview Park, will be provided. Children 7 years old and younger will be required to ride the shuttle with an accompanying adult. Parents and guardians can also sign a form, put out by the parks department, allowing their kids to take the shuttle unaccompanied.
The city is still seeking more lifeguards to fill a 40% deficit in its full-capacity staff. In the meantime, it will open Ammon, Bloomfield, Jack Stack, Highland Park, Magee, Moore, Ormsby, Ream, Riverview, Schenley, and Westwood pools.