Menu
Sink-or-swim time at hand for 2020 city pool season
With the 2020 Greencastle pool season hanging in the balance, it’s sink-or-swim time for the City Park Board.
Meeting for two hours Thursday night, the board laid the groundwork for canceling the pool season, twice coming within a motion of doing so before deciding to wait until the June 4 Park Board meeting to decide the fate of the facility for 2020.
In a session that saw the board cancel the summer SPARK program this year while learning that the 2020 Greencastle Youth Baseball season has been canceled, tabling the pool decision left some wiggle room on the swim season.
“It’s fair to say there’s a high likelihood we will not open,” Mayor Bill Dory said, adding however that if the season is canceled as such perhaps an option might be to open later, only on weekends with possibly a reduced admission price.
“I may be overly optimistic,” Dory said in believing the pool could still be an attraction on a limited basis, “but people have been cooped up for six weeks or more now. We could let the public enjoy the pool and get out of the house.”
Board members lamented that information on how to proceed is so incomplete, yet they know the virus will still be there.
It was Park Director Rod Weinschenk’s recommendation not to open the pool this season, citing safety concerns for patrons and employees, the six weeks it takes to prepare the pool for opening with cleaning and necessary water tests, and the cost of running the pumps and filters 24/7 once the pool is filled.
He also expressed concern of being able to hire lifeguards if a short season evolves. He said he has already heard from some on his list that they are taking other jobs to assure themselves maximum summer job funds to help pay for college.
“This hasn’t been an easy recommendation at all,” Weinschenk assured. “I’ve lost a lot of sleep over this.”
Board member Cathy Merrell, who said her family practically lives at the pool during the summer, said she felt “extremely uncomfortable making a decision right now. If we did, I would be for not opening.”
“We’re in that boat of no matter what we do, we’re going to make certain individuals mad,” Merrell added. “It’s like being the school superintendent on a snow day.”
In accordance with Gov. Eric Holcomb’s plan, aquatic venues may open at 50 percent of normal capacity and utilizing social distancing when their counties move to Stage 4 of the plan, which is currently planned for June 14.
The Indiana State Board of Health suggests “there are many opportunities for COVID-19 to spread directly between patrons in the deck area, pool enclosure and sanitary facilities.”
After hearing even more Board of Health suggestions for pool operations, board member John Hennette said, “I don’t want to put 15- and 16-year-old kids in the position of policing social distancing.”
Meanwhile, Weinschenk said he knows of several communities that have already canceled their pool seasons. He named Greensburg, Anderson and Bluffton as already closed, while West Lafayette, Franklin, New Haven and others are talking about it.
“I would lean toward not opening for the summer,” Weinschenk said.
Board member Joanna Muncie, who joined the discussion via speaker phone, said, “I agree.”
“It pains me to say it,” said Merrell, who was joined at City Hall by Hennette and Board President Tim Trigg, “but it doesn’t make a lot of sense financially. Season passes we probably won’t sell. There’ll be a lot of parents whose income has been cut, I’m not sure how many patrons we would have.
“There’s more reasons for not opening than there is to do it because we want to,” she concluded.
The board unanimously voted to table the pool decision until June 4 or earlier if a special meeting were to be called on the possible pool closing.
In other business, the Park Board:
| | Canceled SPARK, which averaged 100 children a day last year with 235 registered for the program. It was decided that it would be impossible to social distance 5- to 10-year-old children, especially during things like bathroom breaks. |
| | Learned the noon Monday summer concerts coordinated by Greencastle Christian Church will not be held. The concerts accompanied the food giveaway for school children, which also will not be held at the park this summer. |
| | Chatted via phone with Tosh Everson, representing the Greencastle Civic League’s ParkFest program. It was agreed that the concerts could begin June 14 when social gathering may have 250 people under the governor’s guidelines. |
| | Emphasized that the Kids’ Fishing Day, set for Saturday, June 6 at Jaycee Park, will go on as scheduled. Typically two dozen or fewer participants take part, and park officials didn’t see any problem in social distancing the young fishermen. |
| | Heard Weinschenk suggest delaying the June 15-19 Police Boot Camp program of the Greencastle City Police by a week or two. However, he said he would leave the decision up to the police department and make necessary accommodations when needed. |
| | Learned that installation of the three water slides has been delayed but should still be complete by July 3. |
| | Heard Weinschenk report that three dugouts at Big Walnut Sports Park were damaged in a recent storm and collapsed. After the insurance settlement, Weinschenk hopes to redo all six dugouts to assure that such collapses don’t occur in the future. |
| | Heard Weinschenk report that mowing has evolved into a twice-a-week proposition with the rain and sun helping the grass and weeds grow rapidly. “No matter what we do,” Weinschenk said, “the grass is going to grow.” |
| | Learned that with most recreational programs impossible in the current climate that Weinschenk is looking for virtual programs that could be shared. |
The next regularly scheduled session of the Greencastle Park Board is set for 7 p.m. Thursday, June 4 at City Hall.