Residents dive into first day at reopened North Side pool
As the sun beamed down on North Side’s busy Cedar Avenue Wednesday, both children and adults flocked to the reopening of the Sue Murray Pool. “My God, I’m so happy the pool is finally open,” said 22-year-old Treyvon Graham Gardner, as he jumped up and down in excitement. “How dare they think they could just close it,” added Mr. Gardner, who grew up going to the pool and hopes to now consistently make the 20-minute drive to the place that holds many of his fond childhood memories.
Jayon Alabi Jones, 8, couldn’t resist repeatedly jumping in and out of the pool, calling “Watch this! Bet you couldn’t do that!” He learned how to swim at the pool and says his summer was “very boring and hot” without it.
Dre Jermaine Johnson, 9, was practicing his breaststroke by doing laps around the pool before he decided to join the other kids in a splash fight. “It looked more fun,” he laughingly said. His mom taught him how to swim at this pool, and he now hopes to come swim there by himself every day.
Dojanae Glover also grew up at the pool, yet wasn’t there to take a dip but rather to keep a watchful eye as a lifeguard on the frolicking kids. Her schedule now involves constant “shuffling back and forth” between Sue Murray and Riverview, another pool that is a 15-minute drive away. “I cherish this place a lot. It is the reason I became a lifeguard in the first place … kids from the community deserve the chance to come here and play,” she added.
The opening of the pool followed a decision by the city to keep it closed because of a
lifeguard shortage and concerns because there were 58 calls for emergency services there in 2021, including for drug use. That decision was reversed after it drew public outrage, including protests and a petition with over 400 signatures stating “Northside kids deserve summer” and that the closing would have a negative impact on the predominantly Black and brown neighborhood kids.
St. Moritz Security services has been tasked with having an unarmed security officer present during all open hours. City police Assistant Chief of Operations Linda Barone was present for the opening and said officers will be doing routine foot, horse and K-9 patrols and there will be occasional undercover officers to “make sure everyone remains happy and safe.”
Kathryn Vargas, CitiParks’ director of Parks and Recreation, was among the many gathering around the balloons and ribbons put up in celebration of the reopening.
“We’re planning a whole host of activities for kids and parents to partake in and activate this whole area. . . . This place is extremely valuable for the members of the community, especially marginalized members,” she said.
“We made a mistake and we apologize …we’ve now learned from this community about how important this pool is to them,” said Maria Montaño, press secretary for Mayor Ed Gainey, in a phone interview.
Mr. Gainey said in a previous statement that “equitable access to our pools and parks is critical to making Pittsburgh a city for all of us.”
The pool will be open Monday through Thursday from noon until 4:45 p.m. Starting on July 9, the pool will have Saturday hours from 1 to 5:45 p.m.