Luke Taylor: Why are pools closing before Labor Day?

Luke Taylor, The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
·2 min read

Aug. 7—Didn't pools used to stay open until Labor Day?

Yes, it's typical for public swimming pools to stay open until Labor Day.

But staffing issues have made this impossible in some cases.

Urbana's Crystal Lake Park Family Aquatic Center will still be open until Labor Day, though after Aug. 15, the open swim hours will be 4-7 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Champaign's Sholem Aquatic Center will be closing Aug. 13, as scheduled since before it opened for the year.

Sarah Sandquist, executive director of the Champaign Park District, said that the season was cut short due to difficulty in finding enough lifeguards during a national lifeguard shortage.

The district has raised wages, offered to cover certification fees, provided other benefits like more flexible hours and advertised around the community and at job fairs, but still could not find enough staff to cover the park.

"We've seen a shift in interest in seasonal positions," Sandquist said, referencing other seasonal jobs the district offers that are also short-staffed.

She said lifeguards have been the most challenging to find.

In previous years, Sholem has stayed open until Labor Day with some attractions closed due to lack of staff, but Sandquist said community feedback about that arrangement was negative.

Many parts of the center also can't be open with reduced staff for safety reasons.

The start of the school year means the loss of a lot of summer seasonal staff as students return to class, thus the Aug. 13 closing date.

Sandquist said that the Champaign district is in early stages of talking to Urbana and other areas about the possibility of working together to hire and train lifeguard staff to have longer seasons in the future.

She also pointed out that the Douglass, Hessel and Human Kinetics Park splash pads will still be operational since they don't require lifeguards.

The splash pads technically close around Labor Day, but Sandquist expects that they will stay open longer or return on occasional days as warm weather sticks around.