New $6.2M Camp Taylor Waterpark in Louisville ready to welcome swimmers for 1st summer season

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Louisville will officially reopen the new Camp Taylor Waterpark on Saturday at Camp Taylor Park.

It replaces the longtime Camp Taylor pool that was closed for nearly a decade. The $6.2 million project includes an interactive children's splash area with slides and a giant dump bucket, along with lap lanes and a climbing wall. The facility is also ADA accessible.

"That dump bucket is crazy," said Ben Johnson, assistant director of recreation for Louisville Parks and Recreation. "The young kids love it."

Additional upgrades at Camp Taylor Park include a full-size basketball court, expanded walking paths, outdoor fitness stations and repaved parking areas.

The new pool marks the first pool in the neighborhood since 2019. The work was supposed to be completed last summer, but construction delays pushed it back a year.

Louisville hired roughly 50 lifeguards to work the city's pools in the Algonquin, Sun Valley, Fairdale and Camp Taylor neighborhoods. Johnson said there's also a waitlist for people who want to become lifeguards.

In the past, lifeguard shortages forced city pools to shut down early. However, Johnson doesn't foresee that being an issue this summer.

Once the pools close Aug. 1, the city will jump into more renovations at other public pools.

"In my budget, we're going to transform the Sun Valley pool," Mayor Craig Greenberg said. "We hope to have that open next year, and then Fairdale will be the last one to improve as well."

He said those pools will likely look similar to the "waterparks" in the Camp Taylor and Algonquin neighborhood.

Greenberg has opened new splash parks in other parts of the city but is focused on improving existing pools before building new ones.

The water park will operate daily from noon to 5 p.m., except Thursdays. Admission costs $3 for adults and children 13 and older, while children 12 and under can enter for $2.

There is a clear bag policy at the pools. Johnson also stresses the importance of parents supervising their young children.

"Please make sure you do not bring any more young people than you can yourself watch safely," he said.

Opening day at Camp Taylor's water park will be free of charge for anyone who wants to visit. Johnson said a free swim day will be held at the Algonquin pool the following weekend.

For more information on Louisville Parks and Recreation's pools, splash pads and spray grounds, click here.