Information on Department of Recreation Pool Closings

Effect of the Citywide Budget on Recreation Department

From the Mayor's Rebalancing Plan:

The budget revisions preserve essential services for children and vulnerable families and adults while eliminating inefficiencies and reducing some services. Proven prevention programs and services to the most vulnerable were maintained while a comprehensive plan is being developed to realign City prevention programs to better keep children safe and increase school graduation rates. Decisions were also guided by analysis of the city's population - the distribution of children, individuals and families in poverty - and a desire to preserve geographic distribution of health and opportunity across the city.

Preserved Core Services include:

• After school and summer programming for children
• All Recreation Centers so children have a safe place to go, exercise and play in their immediate neighborhood 

Efficiency Savings include:

• Reduce overtime by more than $2m by changing shifts in Human Services and redeploying staff in Recreation.

• Classify correctly Recreation facilities7 and more efficiently deploy staff ($688,000). 

Reductions and Eliminations include:

• Close 68 of 81 pools this summer in order to keep all Recreation Centers open. Keep open 11 outdoor pools, 2 indoor pools, 5 spray grounds and 52 sprinklers. The 13 pools will be kept open based on their location, usage, physical condition and size.
• Open 2 ice rinks but close the 3 other rinks unless private funding can be secured.
• Eliminate summer recreational aid positions and refer teens to other summer jobs
• Discontinue support for summer concert series at the Dell and eliminate $355,000 contribution towards the Mummer's Parade.

 Department of Recreation:  Regional Pool Selection Criteria

Background

The thought process behind the Department of Recreation budget cuts was to maintain a presence in all neighborhoods and to operate most existing programs until the budget is eventually restored and the department can increase programming as needed.  The goal of the Department of Recreation, therefore, was to ensure that all current active recreation facilities remained open and available to the public, and especially to the city's youth.   

Decision Process

The most significant reduction for the Department of Recreation is in the number of pools that will be operating this summer.  This decision was based on two primary factors:

        The operating season for the pools is extremely short and the impact the pools have on the City's youth is less than that of other Recreation Department programs.  While many thousands of Philadelphians visit municipal pools each day of the season, the season is short and they do not depend on the pools the way parents depend on after school programs and summer camp programs for their children when school is out and many parents are working.

        Pools are extremely expensive to operate.  The decision was made to preserve the core programs of the Department of Recreation, and especially those programs serving youth, the elderly, and those with special needs.  The department looked to make cuts in areas that would not have a long-term impact on these groups.  The decision was made, then, to preserve core programs, athletic, educational, and cultural activities, after school programs, summer camp, instead of operating a large number of pools for a short time period of time at a great cost.

        Selection Process

Once the decision was made to discontinue operation of a significant number of pools for the 2009 summer season, the process of selecting pools began.  The first step was creating Geographic Areas.

        Geographic Areas: The process started with a map of all pools in the city.  Pool clusters were identified in different areas of the city (West, Southwest, North, Northwest, etc.).  Eleven geographic areas throughout the city were established.  Regional pools were distributed across the City by ensuring that each geographic area and each Recreation District would have at least one pool remaining open.

The next step was to evaluate the pools within each geographic area based on location, attendance, pool size, pool age, condition, and access to the pool by public transportation.  Data was carefully analyzed within each criterion to create a system picture from which the department could base its recommendation. 

The criteria are explained in the following:

        Attendance - Pools with high attendance during the previous two summers, within the defined geographic areas were given favorable consideration.

        Size - The square footage and overall dimensions of the pools and support facility were considered to ensure that the regional pools could accommodate additional users.  

        Age & Condition - Pools selected to remain open are all in good condition and most were recently renovated.

        Access & Location - Pools selected are accessible via public transportation and many pool facilities can accommodate vehicle parking.

The following pools will be open in 2009 (subject to change):

Awbury

Jardel

Vogt

Hunting Park

Cohocksink

Cruz

Athletic

Kelly

Cobbs Creek/Laura Sims

Murphy

J. Finnegan

Carousel House

Lincoln

Table and Map of Pool Closings