SnapGlow.TV: Modern Gems Galore! Dozens of children and parents from South Philadelphia gathered yesterday in front of the Barry playground at 18th and Johnston Streets to protest a victim of the city's budget crisis: their local pool.
The crowd - mostly 15 and under - yelled and held handmade signs that said "No Pools No Fun" and "Outrage, Outrage, Outrage."
Parents said the city's decision not to reopen the Barry pool meant that their children could no longer take swimming lessons, compete in the city swim competition, or cool off in their neighborhood after a day at the playground. The closest pools to Barry are Vare, 1.7 miles and an estimated 33-minute walk away, and Ford, 1.3 miles and a 25-minute walk away.
"Being in the city, where else are you going to learn to swim except being in the pool?" asked Lauri Zanni, one of the parent organizers of the protest. "You are not going to learn in the sprinklers."
For Markera Tymes, 11, swimming lessons will be a think she will miss this summer.
"They taught us how to swim in deep water. They taught us how to float," she said.
Facing a fiscal crisis, the city said it could not afford to reopen 28 pools this year. In November, Mayor Nutter said the city only had the funds to open 10 pools. Through restoring money to the budget and fund-raising efforts through the city's three-year Splash and Summer FUNd campaign, there was enough money to open and staff 46 pools.
"We are cognizant that there are going to be more folks at our pools this year," said Alain Joinville, the public affairs and special projects coordinator of the Department of Recreation.
Joinville said the city would not open any additional pools this summer, even if more money is raised.
Some city residents are concerned about how the city selected which pools to reopen.
In some areas, such as in Northwest Philadelphia, nearly all of the pools were reopened. In four of the designated districts by the Department of Recreation, covering the Northeast, the Far Northeast, and sections of North and West Philadelphia, about half of the pools are open. In Fishtown and South Philadelphia, the number is less than half.
Joinville said the decision to reopen a pool was based on a number of factors, including the average usage from last season, size, condition, location, and accessibility by foot.
"We understand their frustration, it's not that we are oblivious to it. Because of the budget crisis, we couldn't open as many pools as we would have liked," he said.
Mike McCrae, the president of Philadelphia Recreation Advisory, which helps Philadelphia neighborhood groups, said that if the city had allowed potential donors to allocate their money for a specific pool, more funds might have been raised.
"We, as individuals, couldn't open up our own pool," McCrae said.
Joinville said the decision to raise money through a general fund drive instead of accepting donations to open specific pools was designed to give every neighborhood an equal chance at having an open pool this summer.
"We wanted the fund to be fair," Joinville said. "In Philadelphia, there are a number of neighborhoods that are very wealthy; they probably would have been able to raise the money easily. There are other neighborhoods that are not only not as affluent, but they wouldn't have been able to mobilize and organize their neighbors as easily."
The pool fight is not over.
With the help of organizations such as the Coalition for Essential Services and the Coalition to Save the Libraries, there will be a rally in front of City Hall on Tuesday to urge Nutter to open all of Philadelphia's pools this summer.
Contact staff writer Naomi Nix at 215-854-2797 or nnix@phillynews.com.
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