City pools will extend summer run. Hallelujah.

Yes, our municipally owned pools are free — when they’re open, which is 1-7 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday, June 6 through ... August 9?!

The Current was so upset about this state of affairs that it asked video correspondent Jeff Turner to make a dry-doc  [use the scroll tool at the bottom to find “SA Pools: Patiently waiting”]. The City it seems heard the pleas of its citizenry and announced this week that COSA's outdoor pools will remain open until August 16. Another nine — Dellview, Lady Bird Johnson, Lincoln, Normoyle, Roosevelt, Southside Lions, Springtime, Westwood Village, and Woodlawn — will stay open through August 23. Once those cease weekday operation, you can swim at the four regional pools — Dellview, Roosevelt, Southside Lyons, and Woodlawn — weekends through Labor Day. And, yes, all still free! You'll find a complete pool list and a handy map here.

The estimated cost to the City for the extra cool pool time: $114,000, which Parks & Rec Director Xavier Urrutia says will come from savings in his department’s budget. The relief? That’s right: priceless.

But why not a full swimming season, like Austin? Free pools are nice, but the QueQue would happily pay a couple of bucks during the “fall” and “winter” for access to some outdoor aquatic recreation. Urrutia says that most of their lifeguards are high-school and college students, and once the fall semesters get underway (August 24 for many local schools), staffing becomes an issue.


* This blog post was corrected. It originally stated that the City's outdoor pools are open 1-7pm Tuesday-Friday, but they are, as a commenter pointed out, open on Saturday and Sunday, too.

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