Public pools began opening for the season during the long Memorial Day weekend, including in Oak Park where officials said last year saw good participation and more of the same is expected this summer — especially with the COVID-19 pandemic and public health emergency officially over.
In the Park District of Oak Park, Rehm Pool opened May 27, with part-time hours, and the Ridgeland Pool opened June 12 with full-time hours. Park District officials said they expect pool operations to be similar to pre-pandemic levels this year.
Though the restrictive protocols put in place during the pandemic have been relaxed — even canceled — officials said there will continue to be regular enhanced cleaning and disinfecting of public pool surfaces, locker rooms and bathroom spaces throughout the day.
“We had a strong year in 2022, with 10,500 passes sold. As long as the weather cooperates, we expect a similar year this year in terms of pass sales and attendance. Combined attendance at both pools was approximately 96,000,” said Bill Hamilton, superintendent of special facilities for the Park District of Oak Park.
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Towns and park districts nationwide with public pools and water parks have been facing a lifeguard shortage, leaving many patrons concerned about how their community pools would safely operate.
“We like to hire between 95 and 105 lifeguards. We were concerned most of the spring because applications were coming in slow. However, our numbers have improved to about 85 and we will be having an early June training where it looks like we will be adding another 10 to 15,” Hamilton said about the lifeguard situation in Oak Park.
He explained that the Park District bumped the starting salaries of lifeguards hired.
“We did increase our starting hourly rate from $13.75 to $15.75 earlier this spring which appeared to have helped. We recruit from local high schools, including Oak Park and the surrounding suburbs, as well as college recruiting. It looks like we will be in better shape than expected,” said Hamilton.
Though there are no new additions or attractions to the pools this season, the Park District board is currently engaged in a master planning process for Rehm Pool to possibly make improvements in 2025 or 2026, according to officials..
More information on daily fees, pool passes and hours is available online at https://pdop.org/programs/aquatics/.
Kaitlin Mikrut is a freelancer.