JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – City pools in Jacksonville are now open to the public.
Last year, News4JAX reported nearly half the city’s public pools were closed at the start of the summer due to staffing shortages and repairs. In response, then-mayor-elect Donna Deegan said it was important to reverse that.
MORE: Deegan on closed city pools: ‘Important thing for our community to have those swimming pools’
On Monday, 26 city pools were opened. That’s 10 more than last summer. Also, 72 additional lifeguards have been hired, making the staffing total 292 with another 70 applicants in training, the city said last week.
Last year, the pool at Emmett Reed Community Center was shuttered for repairs, like more than a dozen other pools across Jacksonville. But this Memorial Day, lifeguards readied the pools for a day of play.
“It’s been great. Especially in this heat. It should be up to like almost 100 degrees today, so I am glad that the pool’s open,” said Miyana Turner.
News4JAX caught up with another mom as she was checking to see if a pool in Springfield was open.
“Very excited, very excited because we actually have a membership at the Y and our friends have a membership at the JCA, so we can’t actually swim together, so at least at the public pool, we get to swim together,” she said.
The city announced more pools would be open this summer following $1 million capital investment in pool maintenance, as well as a $250,000 effort to hire lifeguards including a marketing campaign and a pay raise from $14 an hour to $15 an hour.
Daryl Joseph, who is the city’s director of parks, recreation, and community services, said it’s taken a lot of work to get to this point.
“It doesn’t just start Memorial Day weekend for us, it’s a year-round task to actually get these pools to where they are. So I commend our community as well as our team members coming together to make sure our pools are open and available for the community,” Joseph said.
Here are the 26 pools that opened on Saturday for Memorial Day weekend.
- Andrew Jackson High School – 128 W. 30th St.
- Baldwin Middle/High School – 345 Chestnut St. N.
- Cecil Aquatic Center – 13611 Normandy Blvd.
- Charles Clark Pool- 8739 Sibbald Rd.
- Emmett Reed Park – 1093 W. 6th St.
- Eugene Butler Pool- 900 Acorn St.
- Fletcher High School – 700 Seagate Ave.
- Golfair Park Pool (C.T. Brown) - 4415 Moncrief Rd.
- Grand/Johnnie Walker Park – 2740 Division St.
- Harts Rd/ Eartha Napolean Park – 11597 Harts Rd.
- Highlands Middle School – 10913 Pine Estates Rd.
- Julius Guinyard Park – 1358 Jefferson St.
- Lakeshore Middle School – 2519 Bayview Rd.
- Mandarin High School – 4831 Greenland Rd.
- Oceanway Park – 12215 Sago Ave. W.
- Paxon High School- 3413 W. 5th St.
- Pine Forest – 2335 Gattis Ln.
- Ribault High School – 5820 Van Gundy St.
- Riverside High School – 1200 S. McDuff Ave.
- Robert Kennedy Pool – 1139 Ionia St.
- Samuel Wolfson High School- 7000 Powers Ave.
- Sandalwood High School – 2750 John Prom Blvd.
- Terry Parker High School – 7301 Parker School Rd.
- Thomas Jefferson Park – 390 N. Jackson Ave.
- Westside High School – 5530 Firestone Rd.
- Woodland Acres/Warrington Park – 8200 Kona Ave.
The remaining three pools will open on Saturday, June 29:
- Ft Caroline Pool – 4131 Ferber Rd.
- Mallison Park Pool- 3133 Lenox Ave.
- San Souci Pool (Adolph Wurn Park) - 2115 Dean Rd.
The hours are as follows for opening weekend:
- Saturday, May 25 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Sunday, May 26 from 2 to 6 p.m.
- Monday, May 27 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
During the first week of June, the pools are only open on Saturday, June 1 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, June 2 from 2 to 6 p.m.
Regular season hours start on Saturday, June 8 through Sunday, August 4:
- Monday - Friday from 1 to 7 p.m.
- Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Sunday from 2 to 6 p.m.