Public pools have played a critical role in American culture over the past century. But as extreme heat worsens, they are taking on an urgent public health role.
Previous coverage in the media player above regarding lifeguard shortages and their relation to pool hours.
It cost 35 cents to swim at Algonquin at the time, Sutton said. He and his seven siblings took turns going on alternating weekends because the family could not afford to send all eight children at the same time. This summer, as temperatures climb to the 90s in Louisville, Algonquin is closed for repairs, leaving around 60,000 people — most of whom are Black and middle-or-lower income households — without convenient access to the water.
The retreat of government and privatization of swimming pools and recreation has hurt poor and minority groups hardest, historians and public recreation experts say. New York Parks Commissioner Robert Moses opened 11 pools funded by the federal Works Project Administration, and San Francisco opened Fleishhacker Pool, the largest of the era.
The Kerner Commission, tasked with studying the underlying causes of disorder in cities during the 1960s, found in its landmark 1967 report that the lack of recreation facilities, including pools, was a “deeply-held grievance” among Black people fueling urban unrest during sweltering summers.Gaining entry to swimming pools was a top priority for civil rights groups, who saw recreation as a fundamental human right.
As Whites withdrew from public pools and parks, taxpayer funding and support for pools dwindled. In Cleveland, the city’s recreation budget was cut by 80%. Parks and recreation agencies tend to be the first area to cut when budgets are tight and the slowest to get money back, said Kevin Roth, vice president of research, evaluation and technology at the National Recreation and Park Association.
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