BREC’s decision to close public pools early this summer season is a sign not of financial problems but of proactive cost-saving, a spokeswoman for the agency says. Typically, BREC runs an 8-week session at four public pools. This year, the agency ran six pools for six weeks, cutting two weeks of operating and staff costs. Kristi Williams, BREC spokeswoman, says that the decision to shorten the public-pool season did not arise due to any budget woes, but because the agency aims to minimize the high costs of operating the aging pools. “It costs a fortune” to maintain them, Williams says. “Operationally, they are a nightmare … one pool is 50 years old. We have one that loses 2 feet of water a day. It was a fiscal decision. ”
Williams says BREC considers attendance figures when deciding what facilities to close. “The decision took a long time and went through the proper process, in a public meeting in February,” she says. The schedule was determined by an analysis of past attendance figures. “There is an enormous drop-off in attendance after the 4th of July holiday,” she says. An exception is the recently opened Liberty Lagoon at Independence Park, which has remained open because of consistently strong attendance.
Replying to concerns that pools have been closed while flagging golf courses remain open, Williams says the comparison is “apples and oranges.” Different committees within BREC address each facility, she notes. The Programs Committee, under which the Aquatic Committee falls, did not consider golf courses or other facility concerns when determining the pool schedule, Williams says. The Golf Committee looks at its own attendance figures in order to make similar determinations. —Ian McGibboney
