A short season: Carrie Matthews pool to open for 4 days this summer
Jul. 25—The Carrie Matthews Recreation Center swimming pool will open this week for four days and that's it for the summer season, Parks and Recreation Director Jason Lake said Friday.
After not opening the Northwest Decatur pool as usual in May because of a lifeguard shortage and not opening the previous summer due to the pandemic, Lake said the pool will open from 1 until 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday with the aid of Decatur Fire & Rescue.
"We hoped for more time and we appreciate the people willing to step up and be lifeguards, but four days is all we're going to open," Lake said.
Councilman Billy Jackson and four other people he recruited went through the lifeguard training earlier this month, but Lake said he doesn't have enough people to operate on a long-term basis.
Decatur City Schools begins the new school year Aug. 5.
Lake said he recommended to Mayor Tab Bowling that the city not open the pool because he didn't feel he could safely open it with the newcomers as lifeguards.
"I have no doubt they can throw a float to someone splashing in the pool," Lake said. "My concern is if someone has a seizure or an accident. I don't know if they can handle that yet. It's a matter of when an accident will happen, not if it will happen."
So Bowling talked to Fire Chief Tracy Thornton and the chief said he will put a fire truck near the pool with administrative staff who will be on standby in case someone gets injured.
"The only way we could safely get the pool open is with the assistance of Decatur Fire & Rescue," Bowling said.
Lake and the Parks and Recreation Department have have gone to considerable lengths to get the pool ready in the last week and a half.
Lake said he had to pull crew members from other pools and be short-staffed at those pools while they worked on cleaning the Carrie Matthews pool. He said Parks and Recreation workers pressure-washed the pool deck and made some necessary repairs.
"Working four to six city employees for a week and a half is not cheap," Lake said.
Jackson said he knew it was uncertain whether the pool could be open on weekends after school starts, and Decatur Youth Services employee Rico Pickett, who is going to run the pool, has a conflict on Friday.
Jackson said it was "unacceptable" to not open the pool in May when the city's other pools, Point Mallard Park and the Aquadome, opened for the summer season.
"This has been a total screw-up from the beginning," Jackson said. "It made no sense that it didn't open, even though I understand that lifeguards weren't available. We have a Personnel Department, and we should have done a better job of recruiting people to work at the pool."
Jackson said it's important to the neighborhood that the pool open at least briefly this summer. The city needs to work hard during the offseason to recruit employees "so this never happens again," he said.
— bayne.hughes@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2432. Twitter @DD_BayneHughes.
