Lowe’s employees recently painted the inside of the Arnold Recreation Center’s outdoor pool, sprucing it up before the start of the 2021 swimming season.
The outdoor pool will reopen for the summer on Saturday. Hours will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.
Recreation supervisor Patrick Aubuchon said both rec center members and non-members may use the pool.
Admission for non-members costs $6 for those between 5 and 54 years old, $5 for people 55 and older and free for children younger than 4.
Aubuchon said the rec center has been following Jefferson County Health Department recommendations designed to curb the spread of COVID-19, but this summer visitors to the outdoor pool do not have to wear a mask.
He also said the outdoor pool is no longer operating under a limited capacity.
However, Aubuchon said the rec center will continue its increased cleaning measures.
He said lifeguards clean the chairs at the end of every day. He also said the concession stand – where Aubuchon is working – has set aside 30 minutes at the end of each day to clean, along with cleaning during the day.
“We’ve buffed up our cleaning to combat COVID as best we can,” he said. “So, they have deeper sanitation protocols whenever we close down at the pool out here, as well as the (indoor) rec center pool,” Aubuchon said. “There’s just a lot, lot more cleaning and added staff members to help with that cleaning.”
Aubuchon said this will be the first year for him to work during Memorial Day weekend, but others have told him to expect a large turnout.
“It’s just like our busiest weekends,” Aubuchon said. “I’ve been here for like Fourth of July and stuff like that, and I mean it’s slammed, hundreds of people.”
The outdoor pool has historically opened on Memorial Day weekend, but that was not the case last year when the pool opened late because of the pandemic.
When the pool did open in June 2020, Aubuchon said people had to make reservations and capacity was limited. The outdoor pool lifted these restrictions on June 20, 2020. Despite the late start and limited capacity and reservations for part of last season, Aubuchon said the outdoor pool did not suffer financially.
“We thought that it was going to be a down year with people coming, but we were one of the only pools in the Jefferson County area that opened up. A lot of pools stayed closed,” Aubuchon said. “So, we actually had a pretty good year.”
Aubuchon said he believes the outdoor pool will have a “really good summer” this year.
“Our membership has become very strong. We’ve grown significantly in members and it’s been very geared toward families,” he said. “We have a lot of family memberships, so I’m excited to see all the families utilizing the outdoor pool this year.”
Aubuchon said a Luau Party will be held from 5-8 p.m. Saturday, June 5, at the pool. It’s a free event, and free snacks, like hotdogs and popcorn, will be available at the party.
He said the rec center plans to hold free events once a month.
The outdoor pool will shift to weekends only on Aug. 21, and the pool will close after Labor Day, with a dog swim set for Sept. 11, Aubuchon said.
Aubuchon said there have been a lot of positive response about the pool reopening.
“I think the kids have been cooped up and it’s been a tough time for a lot of kids not having as much of a childhood as they maybe have in the past,” Aubuchon said. “I think us opening the pool has been mainly positive.”