Local Swimmers Could Be in For a Dry Summer

Cities Either Holding Off on Public Pool Decisions or Planning to Close

Community swimming pools in Fayette County could stay closed all summer as cities struggle with the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

La Grange City Manager Shawn Raborn said he hopes to reopen the splashpad on Pearl Street June 1 if the State of Texas allows it. The swimming pool might take longer to reopen, he said.

“We’re in a holding pattern,” Raborn said. “Hopefully we’ll get more clarity on May 18.

Governor Greg Abbott is expected to announce a new round of reopenings on that date.

“For the pool, right now I’m thinking we might be able to reopen in mid-June,” Raborn said.

Raborn said the City has contacted a group of high school and college students who worked as lifeguards at the pool last summer. Some of those lifeguards are interested in working at the pool this summer, he said.

“But only if they don’t find other jobs first,” Raborn said.

City parks in La Grange remain open, but all play equipment is off-limits to visitors. Raborn said the City does not have the resources to adequately disinfect equipment between use by the public.

The Schulenburg swimming pool faces similar challenges. Schulenburg City Administrator Tami Walker told the City Council at a meeting on Monday that the earliest the pool could possibly open would be mid-June. By then, she said, the City would likely have difficulty hiring lifeguards, since many of the young people who typically apply for those jobs will have found other employment.

“The farther it’s pushed back, the less likely you’ll find people who can work,” she said. “My main concern is getting people certified (as lifeguards).”

She said the City normally partners with the City of El Campo to provide lifeguard training. That training has been cancelled.

“I do not see us being open to the public with our swimming pool,” Walker said. “We have participated in some chats with other cities that will not be able to open up their pool facilities as well.”

Walker said Wolters Park and the Sports Complex are open for individuals to use, but group sports and gatherings are not allowed.

Flatonia City Manager Sarah Novo said she does not yet know whether her city’s pool will open this summer.

“It’s still up in the air,” Novo said. “We had scheduled some training for lifeguards, but the company providing the training had to cancel because of the coronavirus. We are working to get that rescheduled.”

Novo said she hopes to reopen the pool sometime this summer, but only in accordance with guidelines from the state.

“It’s sad, because the City always looks forward to the pool being open in the summer,” she said. “But we have to do what’s safe for residents.”

If the pools stay closed this summer, there is one other swimming hole open to the public in Fayette County – LCRA’s Plum Park on the Colorado River. LCRA re-opened the park last week for day use only, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Visitors must wear face coverings in the park. Groups larger that five people are not allowed, and groups must stay six feet apart.

Visitors who swim in the river do so at their own risk since there is no lifeguard on duty.