City Will Shutter Community Pool for Summer Season

The city of Richmond Heights, Ohio, has decided that it will stand pat on a decision to keep the city’s community pool closed this summer due to coronavirus concerns.

Recreation director Rick Dula told the council Tuesday that the pool at Richmond Heights Community Park will remain closed through the summer.

"We don’t have a strong pool program and looking at the factors that are in front of us right now — possible budget cuts that we weren’t anticipating from the state and (expected reductions in) the different types of taxes that we normally bring in; attendance figures the last couple of years; stay-at-home orders which are kind of coming out a month at a time — factoring all this in, it’s a very difficult decision,” Dula told the council, as reported by Cleveland.com. “I’m a recreation director, I’m here to help people recreate and have fun and splash around and get dirty and dusty.

“This (closing) kind of goes against my grain but, taking it all together, talking to people, I’m recommending that we, for this season only, close down the pool and (the park’s) spray ground, and then take that time to look at 2021 and beyond, if we want.”

In the meantime, the pool will be cleaned and patched and refilled with water to provide resistance against its walls to prevent them from collapsing inward, which happens due to high water content in the ground around the pool.

Mayor David Roche said that, should things change, the pool can still be opened later in the season.