Summit Metro Parks closes lakes, but other swim facilities remain
Hot summer days are back, and those who enjoy a refreshing dip are eager to hit the water. While Memorial Day marks the start of the swimming season with the opening of many outdoor public pools, a couple of longtime swimming holes will remain closed this year.
For the third year in a row, swimming will not be allowed at the Munroe Falls Metro Park and Silver Creek Metro Park. This time, the closures are permanent.
Summit Metro Parks, which operates the lakes, said the swim areas were closed in 2020 due to the pandemic and remained closed last year due to a shortage of lifeguards. The park district board in February decided to end swimming at the lakes for good, effective this year.
Lindsay Smith, district marketing manager, said overall attendance has declined over the years, but staffing was the primary issue.
"Really the staffing is what really throws everything off-balance," she said. "The lack of staffing, that is our largest expense. The attendance being what it is does not equate to something that was feasible to continue."
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The 78-day season, from May 28 to Aug. 14 in 2019, brought around 24,000 visitors, or an average of 300 visitors per day to Munroe Falls, and about 11,000 visitors to the lake at Silver Creek Metro Park, or an average of about 140 visitors per day.
Season passes for swimming had cost $40 for those over 13, and $20 for children from 5 to 12 and seniors 65 and older. The park district sold around 900 passes in 2019 and averaged about $173,000 in revenue in its last three years of operation.
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In announcing the closure last February, the district said it had tried to attract visitors by giving out free passes, as well as implementing cost-cutting measures, such as scaling back hours and concessions.
However, the swimming areas consistently lost money each year dating back at least to 2011, according to park figures. Losses ranged from a high of $121,000 in 2013, to a low of $16,000 in 2017. The deficit averaged $53,000 during their last three years of operation.
The district said it plans "to focus its resources on amenities the public is more likely to use and enjoy."
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The district said a survey shows residents want more trails and connections to multipurpose trails, among other things.
"Plans are already in place for trails around both lakes, as well as new multipurpose trail connections, as many visitors also enjoy cycling in Summit Metro Parks," the district said in a blog post announcing the closures.
The district noted that swimming lakes throughout the area attracted crowds of more than 10,000 people into the 1990s. Munroe Falls Metro Park in 1995 drew nearly 120,000 visitors during the season, while Silver Creek's attendance was nearly triple that of 2019.
"The community shifted toward backyard swimming pools and other chlorinated swimming options," the district said.
Lifeguards needed?
Many residents responding to the park district's announcement asked why the district can't open the lakes to swimming without lifeguards, citing examples including Portage Lakes State Park, which features a 900-foot beach at Turkeyfoot Lake.
"Safety is our top priority, so although that's something we looked at very closely, we will not be allowing swim at your own risk," the district responded, noting the majority of drownings each year occur in unguarded, natural waters.
Rocky Carpenter, park manager at Portage Lakes, said most of the lakes at state parks have not had lifeguards for around 10 years. He said that despite the number of people who swim at Turkeyfoot Lake, accidents are rare.
Even so, an 11-year-old Tallmadge boy drowned drowned there last August.
Though he was not familiar with all the details of the investigation, Carpenter said the boy "was not a swimmer."
Carpenter said he feels the beach is safe and noted life jackets are available in the park, with sizes from youth to adult.
Like Summit Metro Parks, he also said attendance has dropped over the years, estimating about 500 people now visit the beach on busy days.
"It's nothing like it used to be back in the old days. We've noticed that more people have swimming pools and air conditioning and things like that ... It's dwindled pretty drastically over the years."
While the state may be able to get by without lifeguards, some private pools — like Summit Metro Parks — don't see that as an option.
Just weeks before the traditional Memorial Day start to the season, Maplewood Park Recreation Club in Stow announced it would not open its pool because it couldn't hire enough lifeguards.
"While we have worked to accommodate for this by offering certification classes, increased pay, and other incentives we have come to a point where we are not able to successfully hire enough staff to safely operate the pool," the club's board announced May 5.
The club will still host a swim team and facility rentals, according to its website. The club did not respond to messages seeking more information.
Commercial lakes offer attractions
In decades past, dozens of private lakes and swim clubs could be found in just about every community.
One by one, many have disappeared. At the far north end of Summit County, Fell Lake in Northfield Center was covered over in recent years to become soccer and baseball fields for a private school. Lake Plata in Twinsburg became a water feature in a residential subdivision.
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Melanie Lake, originally Lake Kim Tam in Uniontown, opened in 1956 and remains one of the few aquatic enterprises still in operation.
"If we get a 90-degree weekend, we have 2,000 people that will come," said owner Jeremy Caudill. "We probably sell maybe 200 season passes, and then the rest are just people who are coming in from all over."
In addition to swimming and camping, the park features special events to draw crowds, including movie nights, tribute bands and car shows, among others.
Like Summit Metro Parks, Caudill also said finding lifeguards is a challenge, though things have improved since last year.
The week before its Memorial Day opening, Caudill said he's hired 16 lifeguards.
"The place that we are, it's really kind of upbeat and the lifeguards like to come here, because it's outside," he said. "Last year, it was the week before (Memorial Day) and we only had two."
He said lifeguards can start as young as 16 with a work permit, and earn from $10 to $15 or more.
Training is a challenge for the young people. Caudill said he will reimburse those who earn their certification and come work for him, provided they stay for the season.
He said it seems today's youth are different than when he was young.
"Back when I was young, that was the thing to do. If you were a lifeguard, you're it."
Wide range of facilities remain
Summit County Public Health inspects recreational pools at more than 160 locations in the county.
They include pools owned by apartment and condominium complexes, homeowners associations and private clubs, as well as pools at hotels, schools, public fitness centers and private businesses.
Nearly 100 of the county's pools are in residential complexes. Another 30 are at hotels and motels, a few of which have been known to open their facilities for events such as birthday parties.
Other than the five pools operated by the Akron Area YMCA, most remaining public pools are run by municipalities or schools.
Suburban fitness centers are located in Cuyahoga Falls, Macedonia, Reminderville, and Twinsburg. Twinsburg and Cuyahoga Falls have both indoor and outdoor facilities and Tallmadge has an outdoor pool at Maca Park. The University of Akron also offers memberships that provide access to its aquatic facilities.
Akron's parks and recreation department has outdoor pools at Perkins Park and Reservoir Park and an indoor pool at the Balch Street Fitness Center.
The Rev. Curtis T. Walker, a 20-year member of the Akron City Schools Board of Education, joined the Summit Metro Parks board in January and said in April he and his family used to get together at the Munroe Falls Metro Park Lake.
"We used to have family gatherings there ... We wanted to use it a couple of years before last, and then COVID hit," he said.
Walker said he wasn't involved in the research and discussions that led to the board's decision to end swimming there, but added the park district did extensive research.
He noted opportunities for aquatic activities have improved over the years for inner city residents, including the installation of splash pads in some neighborhoods.
He said it's less easy to build pools.
"It's an issue that needs to be addressed. I think they are addressing it. Pools are very expensive and expensive to run. You've got to have lifeguards, and it's been hard to get lifeguards," he said.
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The city has three pools that are open to the public. The indoor pool at the Balch Street Fitness facility in West Hill is open year-round with no lifeguard during normal business hours.
The city's two outdoor pools, the Perkins Woods Pool just west of the Akron Zoo, and the Reservoir Park Pool in Goodyear Heights are scheduled to be open with lifeguards six days per week from June 6 to Aug. 20.
"That schedule is kind of based on how many lifeguards we get," said Rachel Roukey, sports and athletics supervisor for the city.
At the indoor pool, the city is offering some lifeguard-in-training open swim sessions for potential lifeguards, but even during classes, the pool is available for open swim, Roukey said. The fee to swim is $3 per day, or free for those with a fitness membership.
Swimming in the outdoor pools is free, but residents are asked to sign up for a free open swim membership, Roukey said.
At least one of the outdoor pools is scheduled for renovation after the end of the season, she said.
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The city had earmarked $345,000 in the 2020 capital budget to renovate Perkins Woods Pool and construction had been set for 2020, but after spending around $32,000 for design and engineering services, the work was delayed.
Roukey, who was promoted to her position in December, said she has been involved with the pools for the past four years.
"Part of my goal for this position is to increase the opportunity for kids, as well as adults, for all ages to learn how to swim," she said. "I think it's a very important skill that people need to learn."
She said the city is offering swim camps throughout summer day camps at area community centers, though many of those programs fill up fast and are already full.
"We need to make sure that they know how to swim," she said. "Out of all of the activities they do during the week, part of it is learning how to swim and getting comfortable in the water."
Eric Marotta can be reached at 330-541-9433, or emarotta@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarottaEric.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Summit Metro Parks lakes closed permanently as swim season starts
