pools

Anyone Else Having Issues With DPR Pools Opening Late?

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

A number of people tried to go to Harry Thomas Sr. pool this morning at 10am only be turned away by staff who claimed that the 10am opening time posted on the DPR website and the door of the pool building (pic attached here) was “outdated information”. In fact the 10am opening time is supposed to be new this summer and Mayor Bowser had done a big press push about it.

I’ve so far had pretty fruitless attempts to contact DPR, my council member and the Mayor’s office about this. (more…)

East Potomac Pool Status Update: “Sadly it won’t open this summer.”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user nici161

Thanks to a reader for passing on her query to DGS about the status of the reopening of the East Potomac Pool:

“Thank you for your inquiry about the modernization of East Potomac Pool, which is currently underway. This email is to provide an update regarding the construction and the pool’s opening.

We want to assure you that providing residents and the patrons of the East Potomac Park with a state of the art new pool; pool deck and pool house is our priority.

The opening of East Potomac Pool is currently scheduled for summer of 2020. This is a delay from our previously communicated timeframe of Summer 2019. The new date and time is due to unforeseen construction circumstances during construction.

During construction, our teams faced several unforeseen circumstances, which included the findings of: (more…)

Good News East Potomac (Hains Point) Pool Fans

By Prince Of Petworth

east_potomac_pool
Photo by PoPville flickr user nici161

“Dear PoPville,

All this nice weather has me thinking about the summer pool season. I know there were rumors that the East Potomac (Hains Point) pool would be closed for a lengthy period of time for repairs. Any update on whether that’s happening? I’d hate to be without that pool all summer!”

DPR tells me the good news:

“the pool will be open this summer.”

Ed. Note: T minus (around) two months till outdoor pools open!

East Potomac Park Pool Closes – But For How Long?

By Prince Of Petworth

east_potomac_pool
Photo by PoPville flickr user nici161

Update from DPR:

“In the early spring, East Potomac suffered a structural failure which jeopardized the facility from opening this summer at all. DGS and DPR retained an engineer to provide an assessment of the structure who then made recommendations for a temporarily fix to safely get guests through the summer.

This facility is over 75 years old and with the current state of the infrastructure, it will take us longer than normal to properly winterize the building. If we do not take the time to winterize it properly, we risk a catastrophic failure and the facility being unusable for a very long time. We are all trying to avoid that. To ensure we have enough time to winterize it, the facility will close on September 30th which is still three weeks longer than most municipal pools on the east coast.”

A reader sends an update on the beloved East Potomac Park Pool:

“This is the infamous Fenty $50k heater pool. It really is a (albeit beat-up) gem. DPS abruptly closed it today and with apparent plans to demolish and rebuilt but with insufficient money to do so.”

OP also shares a detailed note from Council Member Brianne Nadeau: (more…)

Big Plans for East Potomac Pool at Hains Point?

By Prince Of Petworth

potomac pool
Photo by PoPville flickr user nici161

Last week when we spoke about the summer pool closure schedule a commenter mentioned big plans for the East Potomac Pool including possibly a two year closure. I’m trying to get details from DPR but in the meantime they tweet this tease this morning:

“DPR’s Aquatics Director and the Capital Projects team at @dcdpr and @dcdgs review design plans for East Potomac Pool.”

Stay tuned for updates.

Holy Moly That Went Way Too Fast – DPR Announces Pool Closing Schedule Starting Aug. 16th

By Prince Of Petworth

pool

From DPR:

“The DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) released the Outdoor Aquatic Facilities Closure Schedule for the 2015 summer season.  DPR will implement the first phase of Outdoor Pool closures starting on Sunday, August 16, 2015.

  • All Outdoor Pools will close in waves beginning on Sunday, August 16, 2015.  Pools will close for the season at 6 pm on their respective Sundays.
  • All Children’s Pools will close for the season at 6 pm on Sunday, August 23, 2015.
  • All Spray Parks will close for the season at 7 pm on Labor Day, Monday, September 7, 2015.
  • East Potomac Outdoor Pool will close for the season at 6 pm on Wednesday, September 30, 2015.

Below is the comprehensive closure schedule for the 2015 season. 
Pools are listed by type (Outdoor, Children’s and Spray Park) and then by date.  Please call DPR’s Aquatics office at (202) 671-1289 should you have additional questions or need further assistance.


OUTDOOR AND CHILDREN’S POOLS CLOSURE SCHEDULE
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“Turkey Thicket bans children from the pool from 6:30 am to 1 pm and from 5 pm to 8 pm Monday through Friday”

By Prince Of Petworth

turkey_thicket
Turkey Thicket Recreation Center located at 1000 N Michigan Ave, NE

“Dear PoPville,

Just saw this on the Brookland Listserv. Insane:

Turkey Thicket bans children from the pool from 6:30 am to 1 pm and from 5 pm to 8 pm Monday through Friday (pool is closed on Sunday). This policy even affects the children’s pool – which has been empty since the policy was implemented. The pool claims it gets too crowded yet instead of implementing a first-come, first-serve policy, the pool has decided it is best to ban families. Families who go to the pool to teach children to swim are told to use the splash park. When temperatures rise to dangerous levels – especially for young children – families are told to go outside and use the splash park. No other D.C. public pool has this policy. Turkey Thicket is one of the few pools easily accessible by metro & bus.”

Via email DPR says:

“We are evaluating our popular summer programming at the pool. We will alert residents with any changes and updates.”

Ed. Note: A couple years ago we spoke about a swimmer who was banned for wearing a swim shirt here.

Bummer – Cardozo Pool Not Opening to Public any time soon due to Budget Constraints

By Prince Of Petworth

Cardozo-Pool-not-public
Photo of Cardozo pool courtesy of DCPS

Thanks to U Street Buzz for sharing an email with us that he received from Department of Parks and Recreation:

“Thank you for reaching out. Currently DPR does not have the personnel budget to open Cardozo pool. Once City Counsel passes the FY16 budget, we will be in a much better place to make a decision. Please note that we have two pools very close to Cardozo (Dunbar and Marie Reed).”

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