Fourteen of Jersey City’s public pools opened for summer last Thursday, and seven of those 14 will have special hours this Saturday, July 3 to handle crowds for the Fourth of July weekend.
Jersey City has two centralized pools: Pershing Field Pool in Jersey City Heights, and Pavonia Pool on Pavonia and West Side avenues on the city’s west side.
City residents who want to use the pools can register on-site free of charge, with the exception of Pershing Field, where a fee is charged for use. Children who are 14 and under need to be accompanied to the pool by someone 18 and older.
“We need the pool open because it is years and years overdue.” – Viola Richardson
________
City spokesperson Jennifer Morrill said, “It does not appear likely that the Lafayette Pool will open on July 4 due to ongoing construction issues, ranging from electrical to sewer.” No future date has been announced for its official opening.
Other than that complex, the newest pool in the city is the Pershing Field pool, built back in the late 1970s.
All of the pools will stay open through Aug. 30.
Where they are
The majority of the pools are located in public schools across the city. For the most part, their hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with some open weekdays until 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Different hours are in place for the Pershing Field Pool, open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon through 6 p.m., and Pavonia Pool, open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and weekends from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The pools have limited hours because of budget cuts, and the Board of Education can only provide security for the public school pools for a certain amount of hours.
If pools aren’t your thing, then check out the water sprinklers in 12 of the city’s parks.
A big splash – not quite
The heavily anticipated Lafayette Pool Complex lies across the street from the city’s Ercel Webb Park in the city’s Bergen-Lafayette section. The pool is located several blocks south of the NJ Turnpike 14C Columbus Drive Exit, less than a block from the old Hudson County SPCA shelter.
When it opens, the complex actually will contain two pools – one for competitions and one for family activities. Also, the complex will include a basketball court, parking spaces for staff, lockers, and a changing area.
Its opening will fulfill a six-year wait, as it had been promised to area residents since the park itself re-opened after renovations in July 2004.
City Councilwoman Viola Richardson, who represents the area where the pool is located, said she wants to see the pool open before mid-July.
“We need the pool open because it is years and years overdue,” Richardson said.
Those living in its vicinity used to go to the now-defunct Harmon Street Pool a few blocks away.
Shaloma Ford, a mother of an 8-year-old child and grandmother of a 7-year-old who lives across the street from the pool complex, said she hopes the pool will open soon and that it will be secured at all times.
“In the park at night, there is a lot of crime like stabbing and drug dealing,” Ford said. “If the police are not going to patrol [the pool], it’s going to get worse, and there’s no telling what could happen at the pool.”
Richardson said she will work with city officials and authorities to make sure the pool is safe from any criminal element.
For more on the locations and schedules for the pools and information on the water sprinklers, visit the city’s Recreation Department webpage: http://www.cityofjerseycity.com/recreation.aspx?id=3880 and look for the link to the “Swimming” page on the left side of the webpage. Also for information, call (201) 547-5003 or (201) 547-4449.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.