Free Kentucky Kingdom passes run out, leaving hundreds of disappointed Algonquin residents still without a public pool

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A massive crowd and big disappointment for many at Louisville's Algonquin Park Wednesday night.

They went to the park hoping to get their hands on free summer passes to Kentucky Kingdom.

The city of Louisville spent $100,000 on YMCA and Kentucky Kingdom passes that were available, for free, only to people living within Metro Council District One. That's the location of Algonquin Pool, which is shut down for future repairs.

Metro Council District One, which includes parts of the Parkland, Chickasaw and Russell neighborhoods, is represented by Tammy Hawkins.

"I serve over 30,000 constituents. I was only given a thousand passes," Hawkins said.

Families that were eligible could pick up their passes on Wednesday night from the park. But more families showed up than tickets available.

This summer, the only option to cool down on a hot summer day for thousands who live around Algonquin Park — is a splashpad.

"Our kids ain't got nowhere to swim," said Trudy Shelley. "I mean, enough is enough."

Shelley hoped to outlast the crowd and get passes for a pool this summer.

"Wrapped around this park, two lines, all the way back to the trees back there," said Shelley.

Fleecie Ramsey was able to get passes for her family.

"You got to keep them occupied, and this right here, what better way to spend the summer than at Kentucky Kingdom?" said Ramsey.

However, Shelley lives in the Shawnee neighborhood in west Louisville. She doesn't have access to a pool close by either, but she does not live in Councilwoman Tammy Hawkins' district, the area the tickets were intended for.

Many complained about communication and confusion, unsure even where to stand in the long line. Hawkins credits Louisville Metro Police for helping with crowd control because she believes people showed up from nearly every district.

"A lot of people that call my officer, they didn't even know who their councilman was," Hawkins said.

Regardless of the district, there are only three city pools open this summer across the city, leaving families like Shelley's back at the splashpad.

"You can't go to Camp Taylor's (pool) because it's closed, so where can we go? Where can we go?" Shelley asked.

Hawkins said she still has TARC and YMCA passes available. Those who live in her district who want one can call her office. In the meantime, she hopes to secure more passes, but Wednesday's big crowd proved there is a demand to get the Algonquin Pool finally fixed.

Metro Council has allocated another $3 million to repair the pool, along with the Camp Taylor Pool. That's in addition to the $6.4 million in funding already directed toward the pools. Councilwoman Cindi Fowler (D-14) told WDRB News that demolition of the pools at Camp Taylor and Algonquin is expected to happen this fall.

Council is set to vote on Mayor Craig Greenberg's proposed $1.1 billion city budget on Thursday. In addition to the pool funding, the budget, if approved, would boost projects such as the Goodwill Opportunity Campus in west Louisville, parks across the city, homeless outreach outside of the Watterson, and millions more for repaving roads.

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