Are Dallas Community Pools Worth Saving?

The Dallas Park and Recreation Board has saved all nine community pools on the block, at least for now, after city staff recently recommended closing them. But the reality is that city officials will likely have to close the pools eventually. Most community pools are decades old, expensive to maintain, and severely underutilized.

The emotional attachment to community pools is understandable. Many children learned to swim there, and Dallas families all over made memories in the neighborhood pools. There are also concerns about equity, given that most of these pools are south of Interstate 30 in Black and Latino neighborhoods.

But the truth is, community pools don’t see as much traffic as they once did. Their deterioration over the years has made them less attractive. And families and young people simply have more recreational options today than previous generations.

Cold facts are what they are. A community pool like Martin Weiss in west Oak Cliff cost the city $139,069 last year, averaging 65 visits a day and generating less than $25,000 in revenue, according to Park and Recreation data. Martin Weiss, Walnut Hill and Grauwyler pools — all built before 1955 — were closed this summer to repair leaks of thousands of gallons of water, Parks and Recreation Director John Jenkins said.

Finding parts for these pools is virtually impossible. The city is running out of salvaged parts from older facilities. If the pools experience structural problems, they will be too expensive to repair.

More modern facilities in Dallas, such as The Cove at Crawford and Kidd Springs Aquatic Centers, while not exactly money makers, are doing much better financially and generating higher attendance numbers.

At this point, the Park Board is buying time. While community pools will remain open only three days a week, as recommended by the Park Board, city staff will also update the Dallas Aquatic Master Plan. That formal assessment will help decide which pools should close for good, which could be upgraded and which should be turned into spray grounds, Jenkins told us.

Rebuilding a pool can cost more than $4 million, but the city will have to wait several years for a new bond package or to find a corporate sponsor. Jenkins told us there is at least one private sponsor interested in investing in a community pool.

As the city decides what to do with its aquatic infrastructure, it should pursue strategic partnerships with school districts to ensure children can learn to swim, even with fewer city-owned pools in Dallas in the future.

As things stand now, some of these community pools will fail of old age. Keeping them open without substantial investment is a financial burden that could lead the city to redirect funding for other recreation programs toward pool repairs.

This is a case of the heart saying one thing and the head saying another. The lean times are here. Ignoring the facts, as hard as they are to swallow, will keep Dallas afloat.

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