January 2017

Preventing Pool Closings

By Deborah L. Vence

Pool closings have been an issue for parks and recreation facilities over the years, with some of the reasons for the closures being that communities have had to make budget cutbacks or have delayed necessary upgrades to their pools.

"We started tracking pool closings around 2008. We found that it was becoming more than just an occasional thing," said Mick Nelson, facilities development director, USA Swimming, Colorado Springs, Colo., in a recent interview. He added that 1,800 pools have closed in the past six years.

There are a variety of reasons why pools close, including the fact that "Some [pools] may have lived their lifespan," Nelson said.

Pool operators and owners need to be aware that "you have to really put some money back into them and fix things when they start to go," Nelson said. "If you don't fix the $30 problem, next year it will be a $300 problem, and [could turn into] thousands and thousands of dollars," he said, adding that renovations and upgrades are not always planned for. "It's gonna happen if you ignore it."

Overall, park districts will have to look at things in a different way.

"Basically, the income is not enough. You can't just charge $5 and be able to cover pool maintenance. It doesn't come close to reaching [what you need]," Nelson said. "It's about income, the total budget, the whole business plan."

Nelson added that some pools also struggle because they might only be open successfully in June and July. "That's hard with only the two months that you can get a return on investment," he said.

A 2014 blog by Nelson stated that within a two-year period, between 2011 and 2013, USA Swimming found that nearly 1,100 commercial or intuitional pools were closed.

The main reasons for the pool closings were:

• Older pools ignoring or delaying upgrades and repairs to the point that the pool cost more to fix than any budget could handle.
• Pools relying on simple "day pass" income and water rental rather than offering total aquatic programming options.
• Budget cutbacks by cities and schools, where rather than revamping the aquatic program offerings for the community, the "people in charge" of the budget simply close the pool.

Solutions offered by USA Swimming's Facilities Development Department include:

• Educate the people responsible for the "fate of the pool" about programming offerings and pricing and maintenance escrows in budget.
• Offer advice and assistance in the best practices for pool operations and renovations.
• Supply an Aquatic Programming Manual (at no charge) to help increase the pools community value and revenue.
• Try to make sure all new facility designs have at least two pools, the main pool and a warmer-water, smaller pool for teaching aquatic programming. Programming precedes design.