READING, Pa. – During a strategic planning committee meeting, Reading City Council discussed whether the city should consider another public pool.
Currently, the only public pool in the city is located in Schlegel Park, off Lancaster Avenue.
Council President Donna Reed noted that being the fourth largest city in the state, it is unusual for the city to have only one public pool.
Councilwoman Melissa Ventura has raised the issue at recent council meetings.
“My concerns were basically with having conversations with teens in my area,” Ventura said.
She said teens have expressed a desire for a pool on the eastern side of the city since many of those youth can’t get to Schlegel Pool.
“The splash pad was a good idea that we had because it’s always packed now at the at City Park,” Ventura said. “However, kids want to go swimming.”
Councilwoman Marcia Goodman-Hinnershitz said swimming is something always desirable in the summer months.
“The Reading Recreation Commission did do a needs assessment survey and engaged focus groups, and I think it would be good — not from the financial end of it, but from the programmatic end of it — if we could maybe hear their report about what the youth were saying,” Goodman-Hinnershitz said.
Councilman Chris Daubert said there is a concern about having only one pool because youth walking to the park from other areas have to cross the dangerous intersection of Lancaster Avenue and Route 10.
Councilman Chris Miller said he understands the need, but added that a pool can only be used for a few months.
“The fact that it would only be used for a certain limited amount of time,” Miller said. “I just don’t know if it’s the wisest investment, and the other part is to factor in the cost of the maintenance and the liability.”
“And when I say liability, I mean insurance and lifeguards and things like that,” he explained. “And I think, as I always say with everything else, the more information that we can have on both sides, the better to decide if it’s realistic or not.”
Daubert agreed, saying that a pool would have to make financial sense.
City Finance Director Jamar Kelly said a trend in recent years is toward splash pads because of the lower cost of both installation and long-term maintenance.
“If there is a desire to build a new facility, I think that would be a Herculean effort, as we would be talking at least $5 million to $10 million,” Kelly said.
Reed requested that the Reading Recreation Commission come to a council meeting to discuss the needs assessment survey results, even though the study is a few years old.
