PhillyTablet Inquirer Daily News
Mobile
Home Delivery
philly.com
email
font size
comments
3
options
 
Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Keeping cool
FILE - In this June 23, 2009 file photo, children play at Kelly Pool after a ceremony marking the start of the city pool season, in Philadelphia. A citywide campaign in Philadelphia netted more than $600,000, and organizations that help low-income residents banded together in Toledo. The common cause
City officials knew there would be protests against their decision not to open all of the public pools this summer. But some of that anger might have been avoided had they done a better job of explaining how they chose the pools they closed.
 
Initially, the city said it could afford to open only 10 of the 73 public pools. But 46 were opened after Mayor Nutter restored $1 million in funding, and the Splash and Summer Fund campaign raised an additional $621,141 in private and public donations.
 
City officials said they chose the opened pools based on their average usage, size, condition, location, and accessibility by foot. But they must have missed something. How else do you explain that nearly all of the pools were reopened in some districts, while in others, such as Fishtown and South Philadelphia, fewer than half the pools were reopened?
 
No wonder some residents say political clout determined which neighborhoods have open pools.
 
Recreation Commissioner Susan Slawson says there are still many locations for residents to cool off.  But it may mean that some residents are going to have to get used to walking through an unfamiliar neighborhood to get to the closest public pool if they want to cool off with a dip.
Posted by Inquirer Editorial Board @ 2:23 PM  Permalink | 3 comments
Comments   
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:51 AM, 07/09/2009
    should've kept most closed this summer and spent the money on turning those pool areas into 'splash parks'. less liability, less overall cost for the city in the long run
    — keapitreal
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:51 AM, 07/09/2009
    should've kept most closed this summer and spent the money on turning those pool areas into 'splash parks'. less liability, less overall cost for the city in the long run
    — keapitreal


3 comments
About The Inquirer Editorial Board
Welcome. You're reading the Inquirer Editorial Board's Say What? opinion blog. We hope you enjoy commentary from the Editorial and Commentary pages, in addition to up-to-the-minute opinion postings that appear here for the first time. Here are thumbnail bio sketches and contact information for the editors and writers who produce the newspaper's opinion pages, as well as an archive of recent cartoons by Tony Auth. (Our blog roll follows the ad below.) Please check out the videos from our One Great Idea project. And don't miss our daily online reader polls.
Join on Facebook    Follow on Twitter

Advertise Here