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August 24, 2011 in City
Shawn Vestal: Pools are closing; have we gone off the deep end?
Jamie Erickson, 13, of Deer Park, shows his form off the diving board while spending Tuesday afternoon at the Shadle Aquatic Center Pool in Spokane. It was his first time this summer to the pool. City pools close for the season on Saturday.
(Full-size photo)
Summer has finally arrived in Spokane, just in time for the city to close the pools.
Well – close the pools to people, that is.
The city’s beautiful new aquatic centers – which we all agreed to fund to the tune of $43 million just four years ago – will close for the year Saturday. Right in the midst of our first stretch of 90-degree weather all year. Nine days before Labor Day. Ten days before school starts in District 81.
The pools won’t even remain open through Sunday (forecast: 91 degrees). Or through Monday (forecast: 88). Or through Tuesday’s still-quite-swimmable 80. Or – did I mention this – through Labor Day?
If it’s any consolation, you can take your dog to the pool Sunday or Monday for one of the city’s Doggie Dips.
Seriously, Spokane? We’ve got these great new pools – and I sincerely think they’re great, and we use them in our family for kid-exhaustion purposes on a regular basis – and we’re going to shut them down right in the middle of our eight-day summer? This is the kind of thing that drives people into the tea party.
There must be some reasons for this, right? Perhaps the Pony Express has not arrived at City Hall with the latest weather report? It’s not like Leroy Eadie and the gang at the City Parks and Recreation Department sit around rubbing their hands and cackling over opportunities to deny us a cool dip on a hot day, is it?
Well, no. Eadie and Craig Butz, the department’s entertainment/recreation manager, took some of the bluster out of my sails by pointing out several annoyingly reasonable reasons for the pool closures.
Yeah, it’d be nice to make last-minute decisions about the pool schedule – to simply close when it’s cold and open when it’s warm – but several things make that hard to do, they said.
First among them is the fact that the lifeguards – most of whom are high school and college students – begin drifting away in mid-August, as the school year approaches. Classes have already begun at Washington State University, for example.
“We just have a hard time keeping enough qualified staff” at this time of year, Butz said. And the new pools – because there are more features and more complicated designs – require more lifeguards than the old-fashioned rectangles.
On top of that, pool attendance usually drops off in the final week. Plus, the department has a 10-week schedule that is based on a strict budget, and even though admission fees have been raised this year, they still don’t come close to covering expenses. Out of the nearly $1 million pools budget, the parks department takes in about $311,000 in revenue, Eadie said. Adding extra days costs money, and money, in case you haven’t noticed, is scarce these days.
The city of Spokane isn’t the only one closing down the pools. Spokane County has already closed the Northside Family Aquatic Center, and its Southside pool closes Sunday. Spokane Valley has already closed its Park Road pool, will close the Valley Mission pool Sunday, and will leave just one pool – Terrace View – open through Labor Day.
Angela Simmons, recreation manager for Spokane County, said the county has typically closed pools a week before the start of school, because attendance drops sharply. Though it’s hot this year, it’s often cooling off at the end of August, with average temperatures in the low 80s and high 70s, and it would cost some $15,000 to keep a pool open for one more week. The city’s cost would be similar.
“We may have had two days all summer when we actually had enough attendance to make money,” Simmons said.
So, all right – maybe it’s not that easy. All these facts make it harder for me to stamp my foot and complain about the doggone city. But still, it’s hard to have the kind of summer we’ve had – all that rain, that Octobery June – and accept that it’s coming to an end without a single day of swimming where the temperatures climbed above 92. As of Tuesday, we’ve had five days when the temperature reached 90 degrees or higher. Some City Council meetings last longer and get hotter than our summer.
It feels like a few sunburny days at the pool are owed to us – by whoever is tasked with ensuring that life is perfectly fair – in exchange for our roof-collapsing winters.
Four years ago, we approved a $43 million bond issue to make Spokane a better place to swim. The city fixed the old, leaking pools at Witter, Cannon, Comstock, Liberty and Hillyard, and built a new one in Shadle Park. It also put in 15 new splash pads at city parks – which will be open until Sept. 5 – and did a variety of other work. It was a big investment in the city’s quality of life, and I’m glad we did it.
I’d be gladder still if I could go swimming on Sunday.
Shawn Vestal can be reached at (509) 459-5431 or shawnv@spokesman.com. Follow him on Twitter at @vestal13.
The draw of the unknowable 
liberal_in_right_wing_land on August 24 at 12:21 a.m.
What is this doggy swim thing? Never heard about that and my dog would love to do that.
Ron_the_Cop on August 24 at 12:32 a.m.
What only open for ten weeks. For the money this is a lousy return on investment in terms of quality of life. For that we could have flown many kids to the So Cal beaches for many moons on end.
Squid on August 24 at 1:03 a.m.
Yup, it’s tough to find employees in this economy.
Those pools would make righteous skate parks in the down time.
Wouldn’t it have been better to build one huge aquatic park in Riverfront Park? I hear City has a big empty lot there. That might even get people to use our public transportation system in the process.
The citizens of Spokane bought our City a Ferarri, when the City couldn’t even afford the gas. I believe the City should have mentioned that before the vote. Seems to be relevant to the issue.
Byrdie714 on August 24 at 7:25 a.m.
What is wrong with hiring temporary workers to work as a lifeguard while the kids go back to college and such?
This is a lousy investment.
I want my money back!
Oh wait a minute, this is Spokane.
Socialist Spokane won’t give it back!
selkirks on August 24 at 7:27 a.m.
It’s a staffing issue and a staffing issue primarily. Too many staffmembers are leaving for school. Read the article. This is as typical as it gets in public Aquatics settings.
DickAdams on August 24 at 7:47 a.m.
Its the usual moronic logic by the Park Board. May I have a refund of my tax money?
maria on August 24 at 8:59 a.m.
Dog fur clogs up pool filters and is costly to remove. It can even cause pumps to shut down. I’m astounded.
ratgirl on August 24 at 9:22 a.m.
When the government is involved…. local or Federal, this is what happens. If privately held, the owners could do what they wanted…. oooops, wait they would probably have some government regulation that would forbid them from staying open or having a lemonade stand. As a taxpayer, I too, want my money back!
Al_Loysius on August 24 at 9:41 a.m.
The lifeguards have to go throiugh a lifeguard certiication class which is offered at SCC in the winter. That is why you can’t just grab some Joe Blow off the street to do the job.
Dog Day is just before they drain the pools anyway.
As far back as when I was a kid the pools would open when school was out and end when school starts. Several schools open this week.
Summer is over. Live with it. Go take your kids to buy their pencils and notebooks at the Going Back to School sales.
The_Seer on August 24 at 9:50 a.m.
Private water parks are doing awesome in this economy. Go to Wild Waters in Cda….
Oh, wait a minute.
There are plenty of public places to swim in Spokane other than the city pools. Most require that parents actively supervise their children instead of dropping them off so you can, in the case of women, head straight to the back-to-school sales at T.J. Max and the men can go get an iced espresso from some north-side skank in lingerie.
Take your kids to People’s Park where they can gawk (and be gawked at) by nudists and middle aged married men trolling for gay prostitutes! They might even surprise Dad or Uncle Frank! How about Boulder Beach where your children can be entertained by toothless meth addicts getting into brawls because someone’s pit bull trudged his sand clogged paws across a disheveled rag they call a towel! Fish Lake park in the county is only a short 15 minute drive from downtown and has very clean water that has warmed to perfect swimming temperature. Be sure to brush up on your Russian, Spanish, Cambodian, Laotian, et.al. before you go!
I love summer in Spokane. September’s supposed to be a hot one too! I can almost hear my corn growing….
Oh, wait a minute…. I almost forgot to slide in the usual “give me back my money because the government can’t do anything” vitriol….
There, I feel better now… anyone got a smoke?
liberal_in_right_wing_land on August 24 at 10:27 a.m.
Did the people complaining even read the article? Kind of hard to keep places open when you cannot even staff them with lifeguards. I guess these people on here throwing a hissy fit don’t care if they just drop their kids off at a pool with no lifeguards on duty and expect the kids to monitor themselves and safe themselves if they drown.
As for the genius who said these should be run by private companies…..yes….great idea…..people are complaining about not being about to pay the $2 now to get in, what do you think these private companies will charge, $10, $15?
Why do people think private companies are the answer to EVERYTHING? People complaining about how much they spend now in taxes, just imagine if companies that only worries about how much money they can make ran everything. Every single road would be tolled, even city streets, so it would cost you $10 to go to the store. Schools would be available only to the richest people in the country while everyone else would be stuck at home being home schooled by their parents who don’t care. If some private company built the Grand Coulee Dam or the Hoover Dam can you imagine how much more we would have to pay in electricity? Or as the Rachel Maddow commercial on MSNBC says, they would never have been built because they are to big for a single company, city or even state to build. Not everything in the world should be turned over to private companies you idiots.
Squid on August 24 at 10:38 a.m.
In case y’all haven’t heard, there are a few people that are unemployed. I’m sure the City could find one or two that are willing to get certified as lifeguards. I’d also guess that maybe some certified lifeguards might be unemployed…… Or is it some sort of crazy rule that lifeguards have to be currently enrolled in college????
Wizard_Of_Oz on August 24 at 10:50 a.m.
I guess that indoor year around pool idea isn’t so bad after all. Splash pads area a JOKE they were put in to reduce the need to have REAL lifeguards at the wading pools.
Dogs in pools is a STUPID and unsanitary idea. Too bad that when they drain the pools they dont let the fire department fill their tankers and water some of the public parks in the area.
Cue the swimming pool scene from Caddy Shack
liberal_in_right_wing_land on August 24 at 10:50 a.m.
So squid, as someone who complains as much as you can about government spending money it doesn’t have, you want this same government to now pay to train new lifeguards to work only 2-3 weeks and you want them to spend at least $15,000 a week to keep these pools open? Yes, that makes prefect sense.
Love the righties, they don’t want any money spent on anything……unless of course its something they like and might benefit them.
ginniet on August 24 at 11:17 a.m.
liberal_in_right_wing_land: to use a Facebook expression, “Like”! We liberals in right-wing land have to stick together to stay sane!
greenlibertarian on August 24 at 11:23 a.m.
Well obviously this is the fault of the Commie/Pinko Brother/Sisterhood UNION of Lifeguards. Slackers!
_______________________________________________
Whitworth doesn’t start until Sept. 7th.
GU, August 30th.
EWU Sept. 21st.
SFCC Sept. 21st.
SCC Sept. 21st.
District 81 (except for Rodgers) Sept. 6
Rodgers Sept. 1.
University of WA Sept. 28th.
Should be PLENTY of youngsters available as both CUSTOMERS and lifeguards at the pools. Management simply needs to PLAN and have lifeguards commit to working through Labor Day, for example.
Take into account that WSU and GU students will not be able to work later in the season, and hire/manage accordingly, IN ADVANCE.
And if they run short due to unplanned “defections”, consolidate the available labor pool, no pun intended, and keep the MOST POPULAR pools going and shutter some of the others.
This ain’t that damn hard.
greenlibertarian on August 24 at 11:33 a.m.
And if they to close certain pools, work through the Community Centers to provide van transportation to the pools that are still open.
For example, if they have to close the Liberty Park pool due to lack of staff and/or customers, have the passenger vans at East Central Community Center transport local kids to one of the pools that IS open, like maybe Comstock or Cannon or wherever.
ECCC has four 12-15 passenger vans, and it’s rare that more than two of them are in use anyway.
Squid on August 24 at 12:31 p.m.
Liberal, I think the City should have hired lifeguards that don’t have such a limited time frame in the first place. I was not saying to rush out and hire a new load of lifeguards right now. I was merely saying it was a bad decision to spend the $43 MILLION on these pools and hire lifeguards who quit before our limited season is over. That’s not getting the most out of the big bucks that were already spent.
Why keep the pools open 10 weeks. Why not make it a week, by your reasoning? It would be more convenient for the college students to party and socialize on their summer vacation.
To me, it would be more important that we get the most out of the money we spent than be limited by the staff. Get a staff that can work a longer season in the first place. College students will find other work, and there are people who could use the employment more than college students.
Let’s say that next year we hire people who can work the entire summer season, since we have FORTY THREE MILLION DOLLARS DUMPED IN THIS…. Are we really slaves to the employees?
PlanB on August 24 at 1:10 p.m.
I can understand there may be some challenges, but for years it has seemed bizarre to me that the pools close a week before Spokane schools open, and sit empty on the often beautiful September weekends we have.
We’re getting little benefit given the substantial sums of money the public spent on these things.
Figure it out, parks department!
Al_Loysius on August 24 at 1:33 p.m.
Dear Greenlib:
It is not just the colleges. A lot of the lifeguards are in high school. HS football practice began Aug. 15. The other HS sports started practice Aug 22. G-Prep and NW Christian start classes this week, as well as most of the other religious schools. Parochial schools start Aug. 31.
A lot of kids have summer homework assignments they need to scramble and finish up this week.
Get over it. Summer vacation is over.
PS. Lifeguard training takes several weeks. That is why prospective lifeguards take the class at SCC during the winter. Those are typically motivated kids who need/want a summer job and plan ahead.
greenlibertarian on August 24 at 2:55 p.m.
G-Prep and NW Christian are what, maybe 10%, at the most, of the Junior-Senior high school students?
All of the lifeguards are involved in summer practice athletics?
Laughable.
Standard Red Cross lifeguard training is 30 hours, most places teach it in a week, you’re completely wrong, no surprise, that it takes “several weeks”.
But that doesn’t matter anyway, there should still be plenty of lifeguards that don’t have late August, early September obligations. Teenage unemployment is through the roof, as mid-life folks are having to take low-skill jobs that teenagers used to do.
As I said, this is a management failure, and is easily solvable by hiring correctly in the first place, and then, if they have to, reduce the number of pools that are open based on the available staff.
Must be the lack of football that’s turning the sportos into cantankerous cranks.
westerly on August 24 at 5:57 p.m.
Spokane sucks..poor leaders in every dept….pools close in mid August…and these smucks are pulling in $100k a year.
DickAdams on August 24 at 9:08 p.m.
The park board in Spokane have the autonomy to tell the elected officials to go jump in the pool and have the arrogance of a government mule and hand out the digested food through the bull. And the voters condoned the spending of $43. million for pools that are only used relatively speaking, a few days each year. The voters might want to think twice before voting to increase taxes again and leave it up to these reckless spenders for a curtain call.
teako on August 27 at 5:38 p.m.
I’ve been swimming frequently this Summer at the pools. There is definitely an overabundance of lifeguards. A person could even argue that the area a lifeguard is tasked to watch is so limited that it leads to greater boredom and an inability to be alert. We really don’t need 12 eyes (6 people) watching the Comstock pool. Nor do we need 2 people at the front desk.
When I swim laps in the morning, there are 4 people watching as few as 3 swimmers, usually 4-5, but never more than 6. These 4 are just sitting together chatting about their social lives. Two people is plenty to man the pool in the mornings.
Lifeguards are only making a couple saves at each pool all Summer. Let’s not overdo it. Keep the pools open instead so fewer people will drown in the River. Sadly there is a good chance of that happening this Labor Day weekend now that the kids have nowhere else to go.
DavidBray on August 29 at 8:15 a.m.
There have been lifeguards at pools for hundreds of years. The training is a piece of cake. Can you swim? Can you tow a life preserver when you swim? Add to that some techniques on controlling a rescue and memorizing a few hundred “rules”. A CPR/First Aid course can be done in a day.. Not that difficult at all. If you look at the turnover at the new YMCA’s, you’ll find that being a lifeguard is one of the most boring jobs ever created…..
There are several sources for lifeguards besides students for crying out loud. That’s an excuse I’m amazed that so many accept! Good grief people….think! Don’t always buy the poorly thought out rationale your handed by the government.
In Wyoming, where Winters are colder & tougher than here and the population is sparse at best, they’ve built enclosed, Olympic sized pools and sports centers that operate all year. Check out Gillette, WY., population about 22,000. They’re years ahead of Spokane in their attitudes and citizen support.
hunternomore on August 29 at 11:41 a.m.
Um-m, the budget is $1 million? Boy that’s a lot for a water bill!