City pool to close this Sunday

By Sam Waller

The Albany City Pool will close for the summer after Sunday, July 31, but will remain available for parties already booked, according to manager Meghan Walser.

“We will have normal pool hours until then,” Walser said. “We do have private parties scheduled for Aug. 7 and Aug. 17.”

Walser said the main factor in the closure is availability of lifeguards, most of whom are high school students who will be involved in preseason sports practice next week.

“The lifeguards either have sports training or they’re taking family vacations,” she said. “We don’t have enough staff to stay open in August.”

Wasler said the pool started the summer with 25 lifeguards, just three of whom are out of high school.

“We have two college lifeguards and one adult lifeguard,” she said. “Including private parties, we’ve been open about 12 hours in a day. They work long shifts, but we’re not allowed to give them any overtime, so when they reach 40 hours for a week, they’re not allowed to work anymore. We have to stagger their days to be able to cover the public hours.”

Walser said the situation has been an issue for the pool for several years.

“It’s always been difficult keeping lifeguards through August when they have to go back to school or have other commitments.”

Walser said she and fellow pool managers Savannah Maberry and Makaela Jones appreciated the efforts of this year’s lifeguards.

“Our lifeguards were great this year,” she said. “Everything went pretty smoothly with the patrons, and everybody seemed happy. I just want to say thank you to everybody.”