On pools…a splash or a belly flop?
Yesterday I actually had a call from someone wanting to know if any of the City pools are open yet, it didn’t look like it, today it was reported in the Blade, Toledo may open 5 pools to public by month’s end
The pools likely to open are Wilson, Roosevelt, Navarre, Detwiler, and Pickford. The city had intended to open Detwiler through an agreement with Greater Toledo Aquatic Club, and to open the splash pad.
Toledo City Council is to review legislation today to accept a $79,861 grant from Economic Opportunity Planning Association of Greater Toledo Inc. to be used for Wilson, Roosevelt, and Navarre swimming pools.It also could authorize a $51,537 appropriation from the Toledo CityParks Fund for Detwiler and Pickford and accept a $5,000 donation from Monroe Street United Methodist Church for the Savage Park splash pad.
City of Toledo pools that are likely to be open this month:
• Detwiler, 3901 290th St.
• Roosevelt, 910 Dorr St.
• Navarre, 1001 White St.
• Pickford, 3000 Medford Drive
• Wilson, 3253 Otto St.
• Savage (splash pad), 645 Vance St.
Source: City of Toledo
Detwiler is the city’s largest and newest public pool. It was among those unused in 2007 but was open last summer.Willys Pool, 1375 Hillcrest Ave., which has a diving board, was the most popular city pool during the summer of 2007 and attracted crowds last year. It will not open this summer.
The other pools that will stay closed this summer are Highland, 1800 South Ave.; Ashley, 141 Knowler St.; Collins, 624 Reineck Drive; Ravine, 290 Dearborn Ave., and Jamie Farr, 2000 North Summit St.
Councilman Lindsay Webb, chairman of council’s youth, parks, and recreation committee, said the Finkbeiner administration didn’t inform her of the plan to open the additional pools.
“I want to have a hearing and understand how much money we are talking about and what kind of arrangements we are talking about,” Ms. Webb said. “I need to be able to have an answer that I can tell a laid-off police officer, or the wife of a laid-off police officer, as to why we can open pools but we can’t bring back laid-off police officers.”
I talked to Councilwoman Webb this morning, she stated that the Kattie Bond of the Administration had told her ten days ago they were working on a plan to open some of the pools for this summer, but Councilwoman Webb was not included in any of the meetings regarding that plan. As quoted in the Blade she does want to have a hearing on this topic, but since she wasn’t included in the prior discussions, until the City submitted a plan to Council, she could not call for a committee meeting to be scheduled on it.
I already know there will be those of you who believe the pools should be open and those who believe they should not be. It will probably come down to is any city money being used, which at this point it appears the money suggested being used is not from the General Fund. If City funding is used, it raises a similar question to holding the Fourth of July fireworks, is this something that we can afford to do right now. If it’s done in a manner where zero General Fund dollars are used, which remains to be seen, that may be the way it can get approved through Council.
If the city’s administration is hoping that opening the pools will ease tensions among the subadult population they are in for a big surprise. What will happen the first time a gang member guns down someone at one of the pools. The city’s administration will be called to account for bad judgement. Leave the pools closed, save money, and give the lawless fewer targets.
June 16th, 2009 at 10:21 pmKattie Bond is supposed to work within a budget and be effective in keeping the housing stock consistent. Unfortuantely, opening pools should not be part of her plans.
A horrible waste of money.
June 16th, 2009 at 10:58 pmPuh and phooey – I cry hypocracy.
As a child I, (and if you are honest), as well as most of you, enjoyed time at your Municipal pool. If you say that our children’s generation deserves less than what we enjoyed – well you can do the math. And it won’t square up.
Open the pools. Keep the kids off the streets.
June 17th, 2009 at 12:38 amHighland Park’s pools are still filled with sludge.
June 17th, 2009 at 11:12 amSomehow my daughters have managed to reach the ages of 7 and 4 without having access to a municipal pool. What a miracle–I have been able to survive to age 31 without ever having lived in a town with a municipal pool!!
How can that be?
Yes Kateb, I guess a pool would be nice, but police are even better.
June 18th, 2009 at 7:47 pm