It may have been a little chilly to
be at the pool Saturday but that didn't stop several people in Mishawaka. They came out to celebrate the grand
re-opening of the Mary Gibbard pool.
The pool was closed last season for
monetary reasons. Now the City has
allocated some funds to the pool for this year but its future is still up in
the air.
Mishawaka
Resident Tia
Hewitt said when the pool was closed, "I complained. I was one of the complainers."
She and husband Jeff were disappointed when the Mary Gibbard pool closed
last season. They said the pool and park
is perfect for their four and five year old boys. "They have the
playground here which is a nice plus so the kids get tired of the pool. They can play on the playground," said Jeff
Hewitt.
Of course the kids in the local
neighborhood were also upset when the pool was closed. Lameir King said,
"we didn't have nothin to do."
And Megan Trevino said, "I thought it was
a bummer."
Mishawaka Pool and Rink Director Joe
Van Nevel said the money just wasn't there to keep the pool open. "For about a
five or six year period the pools numbers were declining and a lot of labor was
involved and the revenue numbers were down," said Van Nevel.
But after being closed for a season
The city allocated thousands of dollars to revamp the slide, improve the
plumbing, and add new pool furniture. All
this in hopes that more people will show up at the pool because that's the only
way to save it from permanently closing.
"General daily attendance numbers need to
be there," said Van Nevel. That
means about an average of 50 to 75 people need to swimming and riding the slide
each day this summer.
But Van Nevel says there's already
some good signs. The pool can be rented
out for parties and a lot of those rental times are already booked. "That alone is
showing people want to use this pool," said Van Nevel.
And the Hewitt's plan on doing what
they can to make sure people are using the pool when it's not rented out. "We'll put it
on Facebook," said Jeff Hewitt. And Tia
Hewiit said, "we'll definitely tell people."
The Mishawaka Parks Board and
Council will look at the attendance and revenue numbers after this season to
decide if the pool will be open again next year.
If you'd like to take a dip in the
Mary Gibbard pool this summer it will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday,
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
And from 6 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Sunday, those will be family
nights.
To get into the pool you do need a
park issued id. Those are $5 for
residents and $10 for non residents.
Once you have that id general admission is $3 for residents and $6 for
non residents. Children ages 7 to 17 and
seniors are cheaper. And children under
the age of 6 are free with a paid adult.
If you'd like to rent out the pool
for a celebration call Joe Van Nevel at 258-1665.
