Last Monday, when the temperature was 91 degrees but felt much hotter, hundreds of North Bergen residents retreated to North Bergen’s Municipal Pool Complex on 91st Street.
That area of North Bergen was and is still mainly dominated by factories, railway lines and industry, but has been home to a pool for the last three years.
The complex, which includes a lap pool, a pool for children, a “kiddie” pool area, a slide, basketball court and food court, is in its third season.
Parks and Recreation Commissioner Allen Pascual said that the pool is “well managed and maintained” so well that he mainly comes to enjoy it with his family.
“It’s something that the community really needed,” said Pascual. “We were out of a pool for five years and it really was kind of an epicenter, everyone coming back and families coming back.”
He said that the pool’s rates have not risen this year because some residents have lost their jobs.
An individual membership is $175 before the summer season, while a family of four is $375.
Other than providing a place for the community to come together, the pool has also provided summer jobs for teenagers who may have found it difficult to become employed in the economic downturn.
“I kid you not when I tell you that I probably employ, between my summer camp and here, around 150 teenagers a summer,” said Pascual, who explained that the pool was composed of 40 to 50 staffers, 90 percent of whom were all teenagers and young adults.
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