LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Four of Louisville's outdoor public pools will be closed for the summer - or will they?
That's what some Metro council members are hoping to answer as the summer season gets off to a sweltering start.
"We hear so much about our compassionate city, and that is one of the most uncompassionate things that I have seen our city do," Councilwoman Cindi Fowler, D.-District 13, said. "And I want that to be heard loud and clear."
For Fowler, who chairs the Parks and Sustainability Committee, the empty pools that are set to close this summer hit close to home. In the committee meeting Thursday afternoon, she said many of her constituents rely on the pools when the weather gets hot and the swimming alternatives offered by the city just are not enough.
"I am very upset that we would do that to kids that are sitting in a second or third floor apartment with a box fan and have no way to get out of the heat," she said.
With Metro Council looking for $25 million in savings in the upcoming budget to address the state's rising pensions, the four outdoor public pools are scheduled to be closed for the summer. Also at risk are the city's public golf courses, which have seen declining revenue, but some councilmembers said in certain cases like these, the dollars and cents are not the most important thing.
"I don't want to get bogged down and say, 'Well that one loses money. We need to close it now,' because it's serving somebody," Councilman James Peden, R.-District 23, said.
As for the pools, some councilmembers, including Fowler and Barbara Sexton Smith, D.-District 4, asked Parks and Recreation Director Dana Kasler is it would be possible to open the pools for even part of the summer, though Kasler cited issues including maintenance and the hiring and training of lifeguards as roadblocks.
"By the time we get them open, we're talking about being open for about two to three weeks if that happened, just by the schedule to get these things open," he said. "Again, two to three weeks minimum, but I'm not saying no."
Fowler said she believes she can get volunteers to help repaint the pools and work on some of the upkeep issues. She said she will also look into getting lifeguards hired and trained in time to get some of the pools open, even if it is just for a few weeks.
"I'm moving forward," she said. "We are not giving up on this."
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