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LUBBOCK — With the intense solar shining down over them, children and youngsters in Mae Simmons Park cooled off Monday, zig-zagging by sprinklers at one of many metropolis’s new splash pads.
The aid couldn’t come quickly sufficient. Like the remainder of Texas, it’s been a scorching summer season in Lubbock. Residents have already endured temperatures of greater than 100 levels.
Two years in the past, town had 4 public swimming pools for teenagers and adults to stave off the blistering warmth. Now, none are open. As an alternative, probably the most populous metropolis on the South Plains debuted three long-awaited splash pads this week — together with this one in Mae Simmons, ft away from the place the outdated pool had been lined by grime and rocks like a grave.
Whereas dozens of kids might have loved the brand new attraction, the grand opening was marred by backlash. Lengthy-time Lubbock residents are upset town has been unable to repairs its swimming pools.
“There were lots of mistakes over time that led us here,” stated Adam Hernandez, a neighborhood advocate.
Lubbock is just not the one Texas metropolis going with out a beloved neighborhood pool throughout a scorching summer season. About 473 miles throughout the state in Longview, residents are dealing with the same destiny — and combating it. The demolition of one more public swimming pool in lieu of paying for pricey repairs kicked off the area’s hottest months.
Razing of the Longview Swim Heart started this month, leaving one public pool choice for a metropolis of 80,000 individuals. It’s the third pool deserted and demolished by town within the final 20 years and comes after town stopped offering swimming classes in 2020.
Lubbock and Longview are simply two examples seen throughout Texas the place the price of offering a public pool has outpaced the power of native municipalities to pay for them. As soon as thought of a type of crucial neighborhood infrastructure that commanded tens of millions of federal {dollars} nationwide, swimming swimming pools throughout Texas and the U.S. are closing in swathes. Swimming pools which have lengthy foregone crucial upkeep are actually too pricey to restore, so cities are demolishing them.
The closure of those public swimming pools goes in opposition to nationwide requirements. Knowledge from the Nationwide Recreation and Park Affiliation suggests cities with populations as much as 250,000 generally have at the very least 4 swimming pools.
Splash pads have gotten the cheaper various — they require much less upkeep and employees. For probably the most half, residents say they aren’t in opposition to the splash pads, however they don’t fill the gaps left by deserted swimming swimming pools. And splash pads don’t enchantment to all age teams and they are often much less accessible to differently-abled people.
The Metropolis of Lubbock holds a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Mae Simmons Splash Pad on July 8. In April, town introduced that they’d not reopen their solely pool as a result of repairs, inflicting an uproar amongst residents.
Credit score:
Annie Rice for The Texas Tribune
Of their heyday, Lubbock’s city-owned swimming pools have been the best outing for residents. Clapp Pool was the biggest and hottest — almost 20,000 residents visited the pool yearly, in response to metropolis knowledge.
This summer season, the pool is an empty relic from Lubbock’s previous. The swimming pools have been centrally situated, open from Could to August, and inexpensive. However after being constructed within the Fifties, the 4 swimming pools had all considerably deteriorated — Maxey, Mae Simmons, and Montelongo have been previous the purpose of no return.
In 2022, metropolis leaders voted to shut these swimming pools and exchange them with the pads, citing pricey repairs. In April, it was introduced town’s solely remaining pool, Clapp, wouldn’t open this summer season, as a result of it additionally wanted repairs.
Hernandez says the foundation of the issue was neglect. In 2022, a metropolis report highlighted a few of the issues — outdated filter methods, unreliable draining, diving board buildings that wanted to get replaced totally. The identical report discovered that 66% of residents who responded to a survey stated they didn’t use town swimming pools for varied causes.
Kids play in Lubbock’s Mae Simmons Splash Pad after its ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 8. Splash pads are rapidly changing into the cheaper various to swimming pools — they require much less upkeep and employees, however they don’t enchantment to all age teams and may be much less accessible to differently-abled people.
Credit score:
Annie Rice for The Texas Tribune
Lubbock’s swimming pools have been in such disrepair that they must be rebuilt totally. Armed with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, metropolis leaders determined to take a position $5.1 million to exchange the Montelongo, Maxey, and Mae Simmons swimming pools with splash pads. The parks additionally acquired new playground tools to go along with the pads.
Jarrett Atkinson, Lubbock’s metropolis supervisor, stated he hopes there’s a wider dialog about methods to have a pool sooner or later.
A splash pad “doesn’t replace a pool,” Atkinson stated. “But we have something now.”
There are different advantages to the splash pads, Atkinson stated. They’ll be open for eight months of the 12 months, all have distinctive and completely different options, and the water is recycled by the pads after it’s sterilized. In addition they don’t require employees, a rising downside throughout the U.S. In accordance to the American Lifeguard Affiliation, one-third of the remaining 309,000 public swimming swimming pools nationwide remained closed in 2023 because of low staffing.
The largest profit — the splash pads are free to the general public.
Hernandez stated splash pads are nice and supply household bonding for folks with younger kids. Anybody older than 10 years outdated, Hernandez stated, would probably not have as a lot enjoyable.
“It’s not the same as a pool or a mixed-use water park with a wave pool or lazy river,” Hernandez stated.
Swimming pools are one thing that individuals can take pleasure in no matter how a lot cash they make. In a neighborhood like Lubbock, the place greater than 18% of households are impoverished and 26% dwell paycheck to paycheck, these areas are necessary, Hernandez stated. There are different locations to swim, however they both require a membership or the admission is just too excessive for some to afford.
Residents beat the summer season warmth at Longview’s Ingram Pool, town’s solely remaining public pool, on July 6.
Credit score:
Michael Cavazos for The Texas Tribune
Not all cities have deserted their public swimming pools. In actual fact, some small cities close to Lubbock have managed to maintain their swimming pools open.
Littlefield, a city about 37 miles northwest of Lubbock, has an aquatic heart for his or her 6,000 residents. And Plainview, a city of 20,000, has an aquatic heart.
“Cities with much smaller tax bases are able to provide these,” stated Hernandez in Lubbock. “So the excuse that it’s too expensive doesn’t hold water.”
Kamie Herrera took her 4 younger kids to the Longview Swim Heart in East Texas typically. The small enterprise proprietor noticed the middle as a protected place for her children, who’re between 4 to 12 years outdated, to launch power through the summer season.
Longview does have a number of splash pads as alternate options to swimming swimming pools, however for a household like Herrera’s, they’re probably not an choice, she stated. Considered one of her kids is otherwise abled and nonverbal. Two are too outdated to take pleasure in a splash pad.
“It’s really hard that they’re just abandoning pools without a plan to replace them,” Herrera stated.
The closure of Longview’s Swim Heart felt as if it was rushed and accomplished with out neighborhood enter, which bothered Herrera, she stated.
The dialogue about closing Longview’s aquatics heart started about this time final 12 months. New to the job, John Albertson, director of Longview Parks and Recreation, introduced in an out of doors engineering agency to diagnose issues within the pool and decide a price for restore earlier than presenting choices to the Longview Metropolis Council.
Employees from Williams Building work to demolish the Longview Swim Heart on July 5. The Longview Metropolis Council selected to demolish the Swim Heart after they discovered repairing or transforming the pool to be too pricey.
Credit score:
Michael Cavazos for The Texas Tribune
The engineering agency discovered issues with the shell and gutter methods which might have introduced dangers for swimmers this summer season if the pool opened.
Albertson supplied 4 choices to take care of the pool starting from abandonment and demolition, making minor repairs to a whole transform of the swim heart. Town council selected to desert and demolish the pool for $150,000 – the least costly choice.
“This would allow us the option to look at other locations and build an aquatics master plan,” Albertson stated.
Public swimming pools rose in reputation to stem water-related deaths. The Longview Swim Heart was the final of 4 swimming pools constructed from the Fifties to the Seventies as a part of the nation’s effort to scale back incidents of drowning. Their swim program taught many Longview residents to swim till 2020 when town was compelled to cease the swim program due to COVID-19, Albertson stated.
Demolition of the Longview Swim Heart on July 5. The Swim Heart is the third pool deserted and demolished by town within the final 20 years and comes after town stopped offering swimming classes in 2020. “It’s really hard that they’re just abandoning pools without a plan to replace them,” stated Longview resident Kamie Herrera.
Credit score:
Michael Cavazos for The Texas Tribune
As swimming pools have closed, drownings have risen, in accordance to the Facilities for Illness Management. Greater than 4,500 individuals drowned annually from 2020-2022 — 500 extra individuals per 12 months in comparison with experiences from 2019 and earlier.
CDC knowledge discovered that drowning was a number one reason for demise for kids between 1 and 4 years outdated, and greater than 40 million adults don’t know how one can swim. American Indian and Alaskan Native individuals had the very best charges of drowning, whereas Black individuals had the second highest charges.
The company’s primary advice: improve entry to swimming classes.
In some communities, they’re too costly, and in others, they merely don’t exist. There are additionally social limitations to studying to swim, stemming from a longstanding historical past of racism that surrounds public swimming pools.
“Understanding the barriers people face to accessing basic swimming and water safety skills training can help us better understand how to address those barriers, decrease drowning rates, and save lives,” stated Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC’s chief medical officer, in a press release launched with the report.
On Tuesday, the Longview Metropolis Council deliberated the way forward for aquatics within the metropolis. Albertson has instructed town create a plan that might require resident perception. If accepted, the method of writing a plan would take round eight months to a 12 months to finish and would supply a foundation for future investments.
“We all realize the importance of allowing the public to have their voice heard through that process,” Albertson stated.
The Metropolis Council is anticipated to vote Thursday on utilizing $3.5 million for a brand new pool.
Again in Lubbock, on the grand opening of the splash pads, Darcus Phenix, director of Lubbock’s Boys and Ladies Membership, introduced out greater than 30 of the children in this system.
“All kids want to do in the summer is play basketball and swim,” stated Darcus Phenix, with Boys and Ladies Membership of Lubbock. “They’re not swimming, but look how happy they are.”
Phenix stated the splash pads will probably be the place they spend their weekly subject journeys any more.
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