SACRAMENTO, Calif. — City and state leaders came together to fund repairs at Southside Park Swimming Pool, which was closed for a second summer in row this year due to maintenance shortfalls.
The pool needed repairs since people began getting rashes from the pool’s old fiberglass liner.
“What we thought would be a quick fix ended up being a much more significant fix, and so as park staff was trying to figure this out, we said ‘Oh no, we don’t have enough money to start the repairs,’” said District 4 councilmember Katie Valenzuela.
Assemblymember Kevin McCarty found $500,000 in state funding to cover the deferred maintenance costs to get the pool back up and running.
“To fix this pool right now, start the process to construct it to open it up next summer,” said McCarty. “It’s a great day for southside park.”
Sacramento Parks And Community Enrichment says the construction will happen in phases — the first step is replacing that liner to get the pool back open for next year.
The Southside Park Neighborhood Association pushed the issue, highlighting that this is the only inner city public swimming pool for miles.
“I am so glad that our city leaders and our state leaders are able to really come to our aid when we ask for help,” said Sarah Cox, the president of the neighborhood association and a mom who moved in to be closer to the pool.
The pool should be on track to open next summer, but this closure reveals a city-wide issue.
Despite this pool’s funding issues mostly being cleaned up, it is just one of 17 public pools who have chronic funding shortfalls when it comes to deferred maintenance.
“Almost every single one of those pools has some sort of critical need on our deferred maintenance list that we’re continuing to prioritize and address as funding becomes available,” said Jacky Beecham from Sacramento Parks And Community Enrichment.
While Southside Park Pool should be back next summer, other public pools could face closures, too.
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