The recent storm did not do the Houston Parks & Recreation Department any favors, as a handful of public pools were damaged in the storm.
Memorial Park’s Pool, one of the city’s crown jewels, has a large fallen tree that crashed through a fence near the deep end of their pool. There is also no water in that pool.
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This is the new era of public pool-going, not only in Houston, but in cities across the country as they struggle with a common problem: a lack of lifeguards.
The City of Houston has budgeted for 187 lifeguards, but only 38 positions are fully filled at the moment. A few dozen more are in the pipeline, according to a city source, the swim to a full staffing is against the current.
“Until we’re fully staffed, we will operate on a rotating three day per week schedule so we can reach out to twice as many communities as we would otherwise if we kept them at a single facility,” City of Houston Aquatics Manager Ray Derouen said Friday.
The matrix, a pandemic era key to which public pools are open when, is not ready yet, either.
Derouen said that he wanted to get a better idea of the lifeguard headcount, and post-storm facility conditions before releasing the schedule which is based on three principle factors: attendance, geographical diversity, and council district diversity.
Even with an attractive $500 incentive program, and a 40-hour work week at $16/hour, the younger set is opting for other jobs.
For a closer look at the current HPARD pool schedule click here.
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