I am annoyed again. It is summer now, so the hours the pools are open is once again on my mind. I am talking about city of Charlottesville pools. I believe the city pools should stay open until 9 PM and perhaps (call me a visionary) should open (gasp) earlier. The pools are open 12-6 M-F Sat 11-4 Sunday 11-5.
On a positive note, a season pass is exceptionally reasonably priced $125 for a family up to six people (and children under 3 are free). The next option is either your neighbor's pool (come on LGNA'ers) or ~$1000 a season at Fry Springs.
However, those hours are awful for working families. First, my children are like most and nap in the afternoons (1-3 or 2-4 timeframe) & eat around lunchtime. Therefore the early afternoon is usually a haze of whining, eating and napping.
Second when I pick the kids up around 5, my choice is to either go to the pool for a brief splash-around (brief because adult swim is at quarter to the hour and kids are no longer allowed in the pool, so really the pool closes for kids at 5:45) OR to go home and cook dinner- forgoing swimming for yet another day.
I am not sure what is driving the reduction in hours (and there are less hours this summer than last summer). Whatever it is, I believe the Parks & Rec folks could brainstorm alternatives that would not be so exclusionary for working families. I am hopeful that the relatively new Parks & Rec director will see the benefit of longer evening hours.
Summer is a time for long, fun-filled days; the pools are great symbols of summer and should be open longer in the evening so that working families can go for a swim together after dinner (or before and just get a slice of pizza at the pool). This may be a topic I return to in the future.
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