Pools open in time for holiday
‘Everybody was just happy to be there’
Day one seems to have been a success, and the holiday weekend will be the first major test.
Borough officials said Wednesday that all seems to have gone well so far in the first day of an abbreviated summer pool season.
“The residents were super happy, the kids seemed happy — I think everybody was just happy to be there,” said councilwoman Carrie Hawkins Charlton.
Since the arrival of COVID-19, staff and borough council have held lengthy talks on whether, when, and how to reopen the town’s two pools at Fourth Street and Whites Road parks. In midJune council voted to open both as of July 1, and Parks and Recreation Director Karl Lukens told council Wednesday night that all went well.
“The pools opened up on time. I thought they looked great, and at any one given point the largest crowd we had, which was a
weekday and a little bit overcast, we had about 75 people in the pool facility at one point,” he said.
“At least for today, we were well under our 400-person max. This weekend is going to be a perfect indicator of what we can do moving forward,” Lukens said.
Forecasts for the July 4 weekend call for temperatures in the 90s and sunny weather, Lukens told the committee, so staff are expecting higher turnout at the two pools, and will be ready.
“The staff seems all gung-ho, willing to do whatever they need to do, and day one went off without a hitch,” he said.
As of Wednesday night, Lukens told council, roughly 830 individuals had signed up for memberships, up from about 400 at the start of the week. The latest figures translate into roughly $46,000 in pool membership revenue, still well below the projected $101,000 from a full pool season, but up from zero just weeks before.
“We’ll continue to be optimistic, but I think overall I stand by my feeling of last month: I’m glad that we were able to do this for the community,” said councilwoman Mary Fuller.
Those who visit either pool complex will notice white dots painted on the ground, Lukens said, and those dots are meant to indicate the six-foot distance required by social distancing guidelines.
“They’re all throughout the grass, and today it looked like people were using them very effectively,” he said.
Per the June council vote, pool admission is currently limited to only borough residents and nonresidents who had memberships last year, and Lukens said depending on the holiday weekend turnout, staff could recommend those restrictions be lessened.
“We’re prepared to — if we don’t get a surge in membership — to look at doing a guest pass, similar to the prepaid classes we used to do” Lukens said.
“The other option we would be looking at, would be to open up membership to any nonresident. Right now, it’s limited to any nonresident that had a membership in the past, but we’ll wait to see what our total memberships look like after this long weekend,” he said.
Councilman Bill Henning said his daughter worked all day Wednesday lifeguarding at one of the pools, and “from her viewpoint, she said everything went well.”
“Everybody was basically doing a good job following the rules. She was commenting about the kids in the pool: their new game is six-foot-tag, basically they’ve gotta splash each other from six feet away,” he said.
Having a smaller crowd on the first day may have helped new staffers better learn their roles and responsibilities than a full house right away, Henning added.
Hawkins Charlton said she was at Whites Road pool for about two hours Wednesday, and saw decent crowds early on, but they thinned out quickly, and heard frequent announcements about cleaning by staff.
Two other pool-related items were also discussed Wednesday night: Lukens said he has found several local swim groups interested in renting the two pools before and after normal public operating hours.
“We have a full slate set up to begin, if you will allow us to start that. We’re looking to start on July 6,” he said.
One group will use the Whites Road pool from 7 to 11 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and another for the same hours on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and a third group has asked to use the pool from 8 to 9 p.m. after the doors close to the public, Lukens told council. Pool rental fees will be the same as in prior years, and early estimates are that allowing those group rentals for roughly six weeks could bring in roughly $14,500 in additional revenue.
Lukens told council that tile repairs at Whites Road were recently completed using different materials and techniques than in prior years, and staff will monitor the results.
“We got that completed at about 4 p.m. (Tuesday), so I didn’t sleep very much the last couple of weeks, but I think it was well worth it. Hopefully it holds up well,” he said.
For more information on Lansdale’s pools, their hours and membership options, visit www.Lansdale.org or follow “Lansdale Parks and Recreation” on Facebook.