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Municipal pool may open in summer

Brad Kellar

The City of Greenville municipal swimming pool may open next summer, or then again it may not.

City Manager Massoud Ebrahim said the status of the Ja-Lu Pool is dependent on the expected opening of the Splash Kingdom water park.

“At the present time we are just going to wait and see,” Ebrahim said.

The pool narrowly escaped closure this past summer, as the city was unable to find enough qualified lifeguards to supervise the facility.

“And that’s when the YMCA came in,” Ebrahim said.

At the last minute, the city council approved an agreement with the YMCA of Greenville and Hunt County to manage the facility, although the maintenance of the pool was still up to the city.

In May, Parks and Recreation Director Kimber Patterson told the council fewer individuals apply to be lifeguards each year.

Ebrahim said that is unlikely to change next summer.

“Splash Kingdom is going to open May 23,” Ebrahim said. “Once Splash Kingdom opens our challenge is going to be even greater in finding any lifeguards, both for us and the YMCA. We may not have the customer base anymore.”

The pool loses about $35,000 to $40,000 per year, due to declining use and rising expenses. Ja-Lu, which opened in 1993, is also facing significant maintenance issues, including the big water slide and components of the pool’s pump house, which will need replacing in the near future.

An option which has been suggested more than once in the past is closing the pool and transforming it into a large splash pad.

Ebrahim said that has been studied, but is not a viable solution.

“The cost of demolition and making a splash park is going to be about $1.2 million,” he said. “There is no way we can afford that at this time.”

However, Ebrahim explained that, as of now, opening and operating the pool is included in the city budget.

“We’re going to wait and see how the Splash Kingdom park is going to work into the market,” he said.