Splashing toward Summary - Neighborhood pools open Tuesday
1 June 2008
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Evansville youngsters looking to cool off from so me of the highest temperatures of the year will get their chance Tuesday — the first day of pool season.

The city's five neighborhood pools will open at 11 a.m. Hartke Pool opened last week.

Tepe and Howell pools were closed last year because of their poor condition and will not reopen. The city has decided to built two new regional pools, one on the West Side at Howell Park and a second on the South Side at Bellemeade Park.

The locations were selected from a list of six sites on the West and South sides recommended by the city's Aquatics Task Force.

Bellemeade Park was selected because of its size and proximity to the Center City neighborhoods. Howell was noted as a favorable site by several people who attended the task force meetings.

The city allotted $5.8 million in 2008 for the construction of two new pools — $2.9 million each. The pools will be identical. They will have a water slide, swimming lanes and zero-depth beach entry with water structures.

Hafer Associates, the architecture firm hired by the city to recommend locations for the new pools, is expected to make a presentation at the June 4 Parks Board meeting, Parks Director Dan Schall said. The city then will bid on the construction projects and open those bids at the July 2 board meeting, Schall said."

Construction of the new Howell pool is expected to being in July. Work on the pool at Bellemeade Park will begin in August. Both are expected to be completed by Memorial Day next year.

Swimming season will last 11 weeks at the neighborhood pools. Schall said there will be no changes in admission prices. The Parks Board recently approved a resolution for a 50-cent increase in the wages for lifeguards. New lifeguards now will be paid $7 an hour, while returning lifeguards will earn $7.50 an hour.

Schall said recruiting lifeguards at the lower wage had been difficult because of the certification they must gain.

"Now we're able to attract the better guards with the experience and certification that is required for the state," he said.

Applications for lifeguard positions can be picked up at the City Personnel office in Room 203 at the Civic Center. For more information on the city's pools, call the parks department at 435-4161 and ask for Parks Director Dan Schall or Recreation Superintendent Robin Hayes.