Some south and west Phoenix residents see the upgrades as worth it. Others questions what losing pools will mean for their quality of life.
After closing half its pools the past two summers citing deterioration and a lifeguard shortage, Phoenix city officials now want to permanently shutter five neighborhood pools in west and south Phoenix.
"We always get thrown on the back burner. So it's nice to finally get some attention," said 25-year Maryvale resident Nikolas Hopson.Some say the closures could negatively affect families who don't have transportation to get to the regional pools.Others are ambivalent, saying none of it matters if the city doesn't work to make the areas safe for kids in the first place.
City officials want to rebuild the pool at Harmon Park, converting it into a bigger, better regional pool with slides, heated water and better accessibility for people with disabilities.That group has to cull the list of priorities from each of the subcommittees into a final pitch that doesn't exceed $500 million for the City Council.
Phoenix city officials are proposing expanding and upgrading the pool at Harmon Park south of downtown.In west Phoenix, Marivue and Holiday parks' pools would be converted to splash pads and the pool at Maryvale Park, 4444 N. 51st Ave., would be expanded like Harmon's. Phoenix officials did not respond to questions about exact cost savings in time for publishing, but Aguilar told subcommittee members the splash pads and regional pools would cost the city less each year than what currently exists.
Also unclear is which age groups stand to be most impacted by the swap from small pools to splash pads. The city provides kids' swim lessons and water aerobics classes for adults and seniors at neighborhood pools. Though Aguilar suggested splash pads that would be open longer would be a commensurate replacement for the small neighborhood pools in south and west Phoenix, some subcommittee members pushed back and questioned the impact.
None of the smaller pools is more than two miles from the suggested regional pools, though online mapping shows a 55-minute walk in some cases. Virginia Arredondo, a mother of four who lives across from Alkire Park, said she'd be happy with a splash pad and upgraded regional pool.
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