Clapp Pool, Lubbock's only remaining city pool, to be closed this summer

Clapp Pool, Lubbock's only remaining city-owned swimming pool, will be closed this summer.

The Lubbock City Council learned during a work session Tuesday afternoon the 1950s-era pool's pump systems need extensive repairs that could take months, meaning the pool cannot open for the 2024 season.

The pool's water balance tank — an essential filtration component to keep the pool water level constant — is damaged beyond repair with no fiscally feasible option to replace it, said Colby Van Gundy, City of Lubbock parks and recreation director. A complete replumb of the pool could keep it operational for a few more years but would take 4 to 6 months to complete at a cost of $325,000 he noted.

"I cannot open Clapp Pool," Van Gundy said, citing staff safety. "You're going to continue to have failures, and the last thing we want is one of our staff in (the pump room) and something happens."

The council did not take action on the pool Tuesday.

Clapp Pool, located in Clapp Park near 46th Street and Avenue U, was originally slated to open for the summer season on May 26.

In 2022, the city council voted to close and demolish three of the Lubbock's four municipal pools and replace them with splash pads, leaving Clapp Pool as the only remaining public pool owned and operated by the City of Lubbock. The council at the time designated $5.1 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to build the splash pads and raze Mae Simmons, Maxey and Montelongo pools.

According to the budget presentation from the time, the splash pads would deliver a significant operations cost savings for the city over the cost to repair the three pools and bring them into code. Montelongo Pool had closed the summer before due to a similar water balance tank problem and other needed repairs.

The splash pads are expected to open by summer this year.

The decision to close the three pools in 2023 gathered criticism from Lubbockites, who said splash pads do not serve neighborhoods in the same way as pools and the closures would mean fewer entertainment options for families in the summer.

Councilwoman Christy Martinez-Garcia suggested the city move forward with the temporary fix until the council can find a more permanent solution.

"The black eye for the city was closing the pools," Martinez-Garcia said. "I don't want to see another pool close, but I get it. I think in this case, for me, I would Band-Aid the problem just until we can figure something out.

"It's hard to say, 'put money into it,' when we could be channeling that money into something new, but just PR wise, I think for me, it would have to be to support Band-Aiding the problem. And that's a tough call for me."

Replacing the pool could cost anywhere from $5 million to $15 million, Van Gundy said.

Martinez-Garcia also called on parks staff to proactively plan other activities for neighborhood kids in lieu of the swimming pool's opening.

"That is a well attended pool, and there are so many children in that neighborhood, so I think for me, it's just important that we start planning, … just making sure that we have something in place."

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock's Clapp Pool to be closed this summer