Summer heat is coming, but a Sacramento community pool will remain closed. Here’s why
Sacramento temperatures are already heating up. But Southside Park residents won’t be able to cool off in their neighborhood pool this summer.
The pool will remained closed for a second consecutive year while repairs are being done, Sacramento City Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela announced Friday.
“We know this will come as disappointing news for some of our constituents who love using the pool in the summer heat,” Valenzuela wrote on Facebook. “We had a blast sponsoring pool days last summer and were really looking forward to doing many more this year, but it looks like we’ll have to wait.”
City officials closed Southside Pool at 2107 6th St. last summer to replace the fiberglass lining, which had caused swimmers to break out in rashes. With construction costs on other projects higher than anticipated, though, it wasn’t immediately refurbished.
After a winter of silence, area residents learned recently that the pool would be closed for summer 2023 as well, Southside Park Neighborhood Association President Sarah Cox said.
Cox moved to Southside Park two years ago in part so that her four kids could use the city-sponsored amenities, she said. But Southside Pool closed down just a few weeks into last summer’s swim season.
The city has the money for the first step of repairs, Valenzuela said. Yet funding hasn’t been earmarked for subsequent phases, which worries Cox.
“We were frustrated at the initial lack of communication, and then being told that it’s a priority, but still not having an official set timeline or anything like that,” Cox said. “(It) makes me really concerned that it won’t remain a priority when the next emergency comes up.”
The neighborhood association is exploring busing kids to Clunie Pool in East Sacramento’s McKinley Park and buying water guns instead of sponsoring free swim days this year. In the meantime, residents will hope for better access next year.
“We just have to deal with it, and I just really hope it is just one more year. Because if it’s more than that, then we have a bigger problem,” Cox said.
