Hours: 1 to 4 p.m. daily between Aug. 3 and Aug. 16. The pool will continue to offer public lap swimming from 6 to 8 a.m. Saturdays.
Other details: Admission is $3. Kids under 12 are not allowed in the pool without supervision. Those wishing to use the pool should park in the lot off 54th Street and Underwood Avenue.
The city's decision to close eight of Omaha's outdoor swimming pools a week early continued to make waves in several parts of the city Thursday.
--A group of Elmwood Park pool users said Thursday that they might hold a rally to protest the early closing of that pool. The group also wants the city to give pool members back a week's worth of the money they paid in membership fees, said Mick Messbarger, who lives in Dundee.
--Brownell-Talbot School extended its public swimming hours to give city pool patrons a place to go after the closings occur. “It's an indoor pool, but it's a pool,” Brownell-Talbot aquatics director Jeanie Neal said. “Parents will have someplace to take their kids to swim.”
--The Burlington Road Neighborhood Association announced plans to raise money to keep the neighborhood pool, Hitchcock, open for that week, said Virgil Patlan, president of the neighborhood group.
The response came a day after Mayor Jim Suttle announced Wednesday that eight pools would close for the season Aug. 2, instead of Aug. 9, to help save $75,000 from the city's 2009 budget. The rest of the city's outdoor pools were already scheduled to close Aug. 2.
Suttle is dealing with a $14 million shortfall in the 2009 budget.
Two City Council members said Thursday that they were disappointed to learn of the early closings. Even so, both said the city's hefty budget problems may have left Suttle and other city officials with no choice.
“It's a sad day for kids and families,” said Councilman Chris Jerram, who represents midtown and downtown. “It's even more sadly a reflection of the city's finances.”
Council President Garry Gernandt, who represents south Omaha, said: “We warned everybody that there were going to be some changes. We're starting to see those changes.”
For his part, Suttle presided Thursday over the opening of a new water playground in north Omaha. The new play area cost $230,000 to construct and was funded through park bonds.
Suttle said the Fontenelle Park sprayground, one of six water play areas in the city, will give children another option for fun once the pools close. The play areas will stay open until Labor Day.
Messbarger, who is an attorney, said he thinks the city should refund summer memberships for the lost week. A family membership is $160.
City Parks Administrator Steve Scarpello said the membership contract says that hours are subject to change at any time and that the city does not guarantee specific swim times.
“I hope that if they're approached by people, they will do the right thing and issue refunds,” Messbarger said.
Contact the writer:
444-3100, maggie.obrien@owh.com
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