Silver tsunami: Staunton's senior swimmers unhappy with early pool closing
STAUNTON — As a group of swimmers was finishing their Wednesday morning laps at Gypsy Hill Park, a Department of Parks and Recreation official stood on the pool's edge discussing some of the swimmers' concerns. Or make that the one overriding concern that they have — the early closing of the pool for the season next week.
Since June 4, the group, which one member called the Silver Tsunami, has been swimming laps every Sunday and Wednesday before the pool opens to the public. It cost them $20 a year to take part. After Wednesday morning though, the group will have just two more opportunities to take part in the program.
Gypsy Hill Park's pool — as well as the pool at Montgomery Hall Park — will close for the season Aug. 9. That's more than three weeks before Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer. The closing date coincides with students returning to school in Staunton, Augusta County and Waynesboro. Since students, both high school and college, make up all of the lifeguard staff, the pools can't operate once schools are back in session.
"Historically we have always closed the pools on the first day of school," said Chris Tuttle, the director of Staunton's Parks and Recreation Department. Tuttle has been with the city for 35 years and he said pools always close when school starts. They've tried to find options to stay open longer and none have worked.
Joanne Bolton moved to Staunton in January. She lives close to Gypsy Hill Park and, with back issues, has found swimming a couple of times a week is good exercise. It's also a great way to socialize.
"I'm starting to swim again and it's really helping," Bolton said. "I'm devastated. We bought the house mainly because of how close it was to the park. And I've met all these wonderful people. How do you meet people in a new community? You need to meet them where their passion is."
Jane Steele has also been enjoying the adult lap swims this summer at Gypsy Hill Park. She used to be a runner, but injuries forced her to end that exercise. Swimming has given her an outlet for physical activity.
"I was greatly disappointed to learn that the adult lap swim was ending so prematurely this year," Steele wrote in a email to the Staunton Department of Parks and Recreation. "This activity has been well-attended this summer, gaining popularity every year since its inception in 2010. It has been the highlight of my summer for as long as the city has supported it."
Next week's closing shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone in the group. When the participants signed up the Park and Rec department clearly listed that the last day of lap swims would be Aug. 6. In response to complaints the department agreed to give them one extra day, Aug. 9, before ending the program for the season.
No one at the pool Wednesday morning said it was a surprise. What they're mostly upset with is that this has been a discussion the past few summers with Parks and Rec officials and, in their view, nothing has changed.
Blake Shepherd said the pool is in the best shape he's ever seen it. It's clean and the lifeguards have been wonderful.
"I just think when you have a multimillion dollar asset like this in the city it should be utilized more than two months out of the year," Shepherd said. "And for lap swimming, I think more than two days out of the week is not an unreasonable request."
The number of days the program is offered is one thing that parks officials may change next year.
"Actually we discussed that this morning," Tuttle said Wednesday. "When we get those comments we take it to heart. We're going to see what we can do, but we have to look at all our other users and conflicting programs we have at the pool. But we're looking at possibly another day next year for lap swim."
A post on Facebook Monday around noon by Karen Lucas saying, in part, "I don’t understand why the pools are closing so early," had drawn 176 comments by Wednesday afternoon. The comments varied, with some people agreeing with Lucas that it's much too early to close pools and others saying they understand the reasoning by city officials.
"The pools close because the city loses most if not all of their lifeguards once school starts back up," commented Travis Cason on the post. "Both high school and college. That's why some of you remember the pool being open longer, because our schools used to not start until after Labor Day."
Local schools began opening in early August in 2016, at the time nearly two weeks earlier than they had in previous years. So this isn't a new problem.
Pools at Montgomery Hall and Gypsy Hill parks won't even stay open on weekends in Staunton.
"We have attempted to stay open on weekends in the past but it has been unsuccessful due to limited staffing," Tuttle said. "We simply do not have available staff to stay open on weekends this year."
Tuttle said they would need, at a minimum, six lifeguards willing to work weekends through August to remain open.
Meanwhile, public pools in Augusta County and Waynesboro will remain open on weekends. In Waynesboro, War Memorial Pool in Ridgeview Park closed for weekday use July 31 but will remain open on Saturdays and Sundays through Aug. 27. That pool is being managed by the SMAC swim team.
Augusta County's two public pools — Natural Chimneys and Stuarts Draft — will close for weekdays this Friday, Aug. 5, but will remain open on weekends into September. The final day those two pools will be open is Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 4.
Augusta County contracts with the Staunton Augusta YMCA for its lifeguards, per Andy Wells, the director of Parks and Recreation. Wells said Augusta County has been closing pools during the week once schools are back in session for a decade. He said there had been an effort to keep pools open during the week after students returned to school but it just didn't work.
"What it came down to is the daily attendance at the pool fell drastically off," he said. "Based on demand and looking at operational cost, a decision was made to say we're just going to be open on weekends."
Karen Lucas told The News Leader that, to her, it's a matter of priorities in the city. She grew up in Maine and the local pool in her community was open Memorial Day until Labor Day. It was also free to all residents.
"But Maine puts people first," she said. "They have such great programs for the elderly. But I'm not in Maine. I'm in Virginia. I'm a personal trainer and the pool is the best fitness thing for the elderly. It's amazing."
In her email, Steele wrote that the the pool is not just for kids.
"As a senior citizen, swimming is the one safe activity for those who have given up running, tennis, and mountain biking, among other things as we've aged," Steele said. "Swimming is an important activity the city should not only support but encourage in the interest of public health and physical activity for all, but especially for seniors."
She told Parks and Rec officials that school openings should not affect a program promoted to and enjoyed by seniors.
"There are adult lifeguards in the city who, if approached, would be willing to do this," Steele wrote.
Tuttle said he's open to adult lifeguards, but there have to be people willing to do the job. They advertise for pool positions starting in February and adults haven't stepped forward to be lifeguards.
"It's one of these areas where I understand my position, as director who has to make the decisions," Tuttle said. "I also understand the users' opinion, that they want to keep swimming. I get it."
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— Patrick Hite is a reporter at The News Leader. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.
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This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Silver tsunami: Staunton's senior swimmers unhappy with early pool closing
