Algonquin Pool closing for repairs, leaving fewer public pools open in Louisville Metro this summer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Summertime is almost here, which means pool season is right around the corner.

However, there are only three public pools scheduled to open this summer across Louisville Metro, a city of nearly one million people.

According to the Parks Department, the city has an average of 0.8 pools per 100,000 people. That ranks 89th in the Trust for Public Land, compared to top-ranked Cleveland which has 10.7 pools per 100,000.

Only the aquatic centers at Sun Valley, Fairdale, and Mary T. Meagher will be open this summer.

However, the Algonquin Pool will be closed to prepare the pool to be reconstructed. The pool has faced vandalism and ongoing poor conditions.

Norton Pool at Camp Taylor Memorial Park remains closed, as it has since 2019.

Councilwoman Cindi Fowler (D-14) says reopening the pools is one of her priorities. She tells WDRB News that more than $6 million is set aside to pay for reconstruction or renovations at the Algonquin and Norton Pools. If there's American Rescue Plan funding left over, she says there's a good chance that will go toward the pools.

Fowler says the hope is to break ground on those two projects this fall.

As for the three pools that will remain open, all were built before 1968, and only Mary T. Meagher Aquatic Center has seen extensive work in the past 25 years.

Debbie Noonkester lives near the Sun Valley Community Center and the pool, and took her kids there as they grew up. She says her grandkids experience the same pool she did all those years ago.

"It hasn't changed other than the diving boards being removed. It's the same pool," Debbie Noonkester said. "It's where all our friends were. Everyone in the summers went to the pool."

While that pool remains open, other communities will have to rely on splashpads. There are currently 30 scattered throughout the city.

During Wednesday's budget hearing for the Parks Committee, members also discussed a number of priorities, mainly public safety. The department is aiming to keep community centers open more hours and days, clean bathrooms, improve the lighting. Metro Council members also discussed maintenance at parks extensively, hoping for more details on how the budget money will be spent, and when.