'24 in '24': All of Cincinnati's public pools will be open this summer
Twenty-four in ’24.
That’s how many city-owned swimming pools Cincinnati will open this summer – all of them, for the first time since 2019.
And that was the slogan inside the city’s human resources department, as it stepped up recruitment at area high schools for lifeguards and other pool employees.
“Twenty-four in ’24 became the cry,” Jude Johnson, superintendent in human resources, said as city officials announced the summer’s pool plan on Tuesday.
Summer 2023: Cincinnati city pools less likely to be open in poorer neighborhoods
Johnson said he started his effort at the Winton Hills Recreation Center last fall, meeting with friends, churches, rec center employees and community council members to find applicants. Winton Hills pool was one of five not in operation last year and one of 11 that remained closed the year before.
Johnson then recruited at high schools across Cincinnati, as well as ones in St. Bernard, Norwood, Reading, Deer Park and Mariemont, and Covington and Newport in Northern Kentucky.
The city was able to bring on about 250 lifeguards for the year with wages of $16 to $18 an hour. It was also able to tap applicants from its Lifeguard Academy, launched in 2022, that pays teens to learn to swim and be ready for pool jobs.
Cincinnati leaders sought a full reopening of pools for years, Mayor Aftab Pureval said.
“We have been working on this since we walked into office,” he said. “Our pools are the cornerstone of our communities.”
Three pools will open May 25, Recreation Commission Director Daniel Betts said:
Dunham Otto Armleder, 4356 Dunham Lane in Westwood.
McKie Pool, 1655 Chase Ave., Northside.
Oakley, 3900 Paxton Ave.
Seventeen more will open June 3 and the balance on June 10.
The city will devote close to $2 million of the recreation commission’s $34.6 million annual budget on pools this year, Betts told The Enquirer. They’ll generate about $325,000 in revenue, he said, calling pools a public service and “integral part of our communities.”
The city continues to hire lifeguards, managers, concession workers and door attendants for pools, with information on the city website.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: When will Cincinnati neighborhood pools open this year?