...There are nine pools that are recommended for closing, but these are recommended by the Cincinnati Recreation Commission in keeping with their capital strategy for the development of spraygrounds in the city. In addition the pools slated to be closed have been impacted by deferred maintenance and repairs that the General Fund has not been able to support. Admittedly, there will be a gap between the closing of the pools and the opening of the new spray features. Those pools affected by this decision include: Ziegler, Washington Park, Caldwell, Fairview, South Fairmont, North Fairmont, Inwood, Mount Adams, and Filson. Additionally when you compare the cost to operate and maintain these facilities in relation to the numbers of people that use them it is hard to justify leaving them open..."...when you compare the cost to operate and maintain these facilities in relation to the numbers of people that use them it is hard to justify leaving them open." Who is saying this? The Mt. Adams Pool is totally packed every time I go there. Really you couldn't comfortably fit more users in that small pool. Most of the days I go to the Washington Park Pool, there are over 50 people there, even though the hours are restricted and the immediate neighborhood is half vacant. The demand is there and even growing.
See, when we opposed the removal of Washington Park pool, people responded: "hey you still have Ziegler, Inwood, Fairview, Mt. Adams nearby". None of those had deepwater or diving boards, but now we see that really all the pools are at best, headed the way of the failed Dyer Sprayground on Freeman Ave... desolate sprinklers over rubberized surface with still limited hours.
We are considering giving up on CRC pools, their non-maintenance, their minimal and inconvenient hours, rules about food and constant threats to close more pools. We may go private next summer so our kids can get some serious swim lessons with a serious swim and diving team. Unfortunately we will be driving a lot more to get there.
Sorry poor kids, next summer you will bake. If you're lucky sometime in the next few years CRC may see fit to set up a sprinkler for you. Maybe.
Posts
5 comments:
What's the point of paying the extra taxes to live in the city? We can pay for private pools and trash pickup in a township.
I realize this budget fix is stressful, but Big D had best be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater ;) or he's liable to wind up with fewer folks paying his taxes.
Now they that are cutting sheriff patrols, township taxes are going to be going up.
What's the 5-13 year old population in the basin now? What's that population minus the West End where there is the excellent Lincoln Center pool? The number of pools in the basin reflects the population density of 1975. You can bet that a lot of the children you see at the basin pools have been dropped off by parents who live elsewhere.
But will the child population be decreasing or increasing in the next decade? Part of the problem is that they are always reacting to the current demographics, which after planning and construction results in the infrastructure being 10 years behind the curve.
Agreed. It's harder to successfully court the currently desirable demographic with fewer and fewer family-oriented amenities.
Post a Comment