Baltimore City pools open for the summer on Saturday, though the 2025 pool season will come with some schedule changes.
According to the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks (BCRP), six pools will be open six days per week instead of seven this year in hopes of preserving upgrades.
BCRP says pools at Druid Hill, Lake Clifton and Riverside will be closed every Monday, while the pools at Patterson, Roosevelt and Middle Branch will be closed every Tuesday this summer.
Baltimore Budget Director Laura Larsen says the closures will give city employees more time to catch up on maintenance issues that prompted facilities like the Patterson Park pool to close for the entire 2023 season.
“What that’s going to do is it’s going to allow us to dedicate one entire day to maintenance at those locations versus trying to do that maintenance after hours,” Larsen said at the April 23 Baltimore Board of Estimates meeting. “What that’s going to do is ensure that we’re properly maintained and [have] invested back in these assets, which is really important following on the number of upgrades that we’ve been able to fund in recent years through the Capital program.”
Since 2022, BCRP’s Rec Rollout program has seen $120 million pumped into revitalizing the city’s public spaces, which more than a third came from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.
According to city documents, $10 million of the $41 million in Rec Rollout APRA funds were allocated to Baltimore City pools, which was used partly to fund new projects like the Coldstream Aquatic Center. BCRP has received a total of $23,446,667.21 in committed ARPA funds for pools since the law’s adoption in 2021, though not all of this money has been spent yet.
In an emailed statement, BCRP public relations officer Alex Silverman acknowledged the closures but said the city is scheduled to open three new neighborhood pools this summer. This includes the Walter P. Carter pool, which will be up and running on Saturday.
“We are increasing pool access and capacity in 2025 with the addition of three new neighborhood pools, the first being Walter P. Carter, [with] Coldstream and Towanda following later this summer,” Silverman said.
Lifeguard plans
In response to an audit of his agency presented May 7, BCRP Director Reginald Moore testified about lifeguard staffing levels — an issue that has caused city pools to close in the past.
During his testimony, Moore said he is not aware of major lifeguard shortages this year because BCRP is making efforts to attract new staff. The agency is providing free certification training to prospective lifeguards in exchange for their employment this summer and bonuses at the end of the season, Moore said.
“If you recall the last couple years, you’ve been hearing other cities talking about the shortage of lifeguards,” Moore said. “We haven’t heard that from Baltimore City Rec and Parks, cause our aquatics team has been doing an amazing job working with schools.”
Moore said some limits on pool guest capacity may be needed so the city can comply with Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) lifeguarding standards. COMAR allows one lifeguard to supervise up to 30 swimmers and requires an extra lifeguard for each 20 additional swimmers.
“If we have a shortage, what we do is … we’ll shift lifeguards around, but we are not gonna exceed the capacity based on the requirements of COMAR,” Moore said.
Upcoming dates
City pools will be open on weekends beginning Saturday, May 24, and weekdays beginning on Tuesday, June 17, according to the BCRP. Coldstream and Towanda do not yet have specific opening dates for this pool season.
The agency will also host a community meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday to discuss “important updates and plans related to our park pool facilities and summer programming.” According to a BCRP news release, the meeting will be held at 3001 East Drive — within Druid Hill Park near the pool and tennis courts.
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