POOLING RESOURCES

Photo by: William D. Lewis

Photo

North Side Pool on Belmont Avenue in Youngstown.

Photo by: William D. Lewis

Photo

Tamboura Jenkins, left, and David Williams, both 12, are members of Boys and Girls Club of Youngstown. The organization hopes to increase membership this summer as the threat looms that North Side Pool may not open because of city budget constraints.

Clubs, groups look to fill void if North Side Pool doesn’t open this summer

By DAN BROWN

TheNewsoutlet.org

YOUNGSTOWN

North Side pool is always quiet this time of year.

No water, no lifeguards, no children swimming, no laughter or fun to fill the air during its offseason. The pool off Belmont Avenue sits dormant, waiting for the middle of June to open so it can entertain Youngstown youths.

But, because of city park and recreation budget cuts, the pool might remain quiet all summer.

The pool ended last year with a deficit of $82,203, and for a city looking to reduce a $3.5 million deficit in the 2010 budget, it made the waters at the recreation facility murky. Cutting the nonprofitable park and recreation programs would save the city $1 million.

Pastor Sylvia Jennings of Oak Baptist Church has been a Youngstown resident her entire life and has enjoyed taking her grandchildren to the pool. During a recent trip to the Dairy Queen adjacent to the pool, Jennings said she is troubled by the lack of alternatives should it not reopen.

“They need some place they can go, have fun and keep cool, and then you can know where they are and what’s going on,” the pastor said. “I believe if the pool stays open, that would help [prevent] some tendencies to get into other activities that aren’t acceptable.”

She said there aren’t many other places for North Side children to go this summer other than Crandall and Wick parks.

Jason Whitehead, acting park and recreation director and the mayor’s chief of staff/secretary, doesn’t see North Side Pool’s becoming a nonfunctioning pool such as Borts on the West Side.

“It’s the mayor’s goal to make sure [North Side] is open every year,” Whitehead said.

Though Whitehead said he rejects the idea that not opening the pool will influence the crime rate, he acknowledged it could magnify the deeds of those already inclined to cause trouble.

“Overall, kids [who] come to the summer pool come to swim, are from good households and their parents hold them responsible for their actions,” Whitehead said.

Not everyone agrees, however, that closing the pool won’t have a big effect on area youths. Catherine McKelvey was a lifeguard at North Side Pool the past two summers and sees the kids swimming, socializing with friends, having races in the grass and doing a lot of dancing. She estimates she saw the same 100 to 500 children at the pool daily and noted the kids walk from the East and South sides just to take a swim.

“I think it’ll be a huge problem if the pool closes,” McKelvey said. “I don’t know what [the youth] would do if this pool didn’t open.”

McKelvey is realistic about what the pool is used for and knows that some parents around the community use it as a baby sitter, often dropping kids off when it opens and picking them up when it closes.

“It’s better for kids to come here than roam around on the streets,” McKelvey said. “I think the kids do stay out of trouble when they are here because there’s lifeguards and deputy sheriffs [to watch them].”

If the pool closes, area officials said there are other places available to children during the summer. The Boys and Girls Club of Youngstown welcomes all youths to join, said Melanie Costello, director of educational and program services.

“Right now, we are trying to grow membership,” Costello said.

North Side Pool charges $1 a day for a youth to swim. For the cost of seven trips to the pool, parents can purchase a membership to the Boys and Girls Club. The club is open from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the summer. Costello says the program serves children well, especially in the summer hours when school isn’t in session.

The organization provides structure for children while offering a variety of programs focused on sports, nutrition and health and other topics. The club also emphasizes character and leadership skills as well as volunteer work.

Costello used to take the kids to Borts every week, and she feels bad about North Side Pool’s problems. She said, however, the club is willing to shoulder more responsibility if the pool closes.

Whitehead said families must be creative in using community resources and groups available to them such as Neighborhood Ministries, the Jewish Community Center or Heart Reach Ministries.

The YMCA has scheduled a splash week from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. May 24-28. The free program will offer swimming lessons for children. The deadline to call and register is May 20.

“Maybe it’ll save a life someday,” said Mike Shaffer, the Youngstown Central YMCA branch director.

The organization also offers $5-per-day guest passes to swim in one of their pools and a $15 guest pass for the whole family. These are offered at both the Boardman and Youngstown facilities. The group is still in the discussion stage on planning more special events.

“We wanted to get more proactively involved,” Shaffer said.

He said it’s a shame that locations that need facilities such as North Side Pool are usually the ones that lose them.

Whitehead added that the city’s parks will be open this year along with tennis, basketball and baseball facilities. Though Whitehead said he understands the disappointment with the pool’s uncertainty, he suggested putting the problem in perspective.

“Do you lay off a police officer or cut a summer program?” Whitehead asked. “The tax revenue is not there; the money is not there.”

Whitehead emphasized no final decision has been made on the pool’s future.

North Side Pool originally opened in 1939. The city spent $1.28 million to renovate the facility and reopened it in 2007.

The NewsOutlet is a joint media venture by student and professional journalists and is a collaboration of Youngstown State University, WYSU radio and The Vindicator.