Overland Park plans to open all of its outdoor pools for the 2024 summer season.
Last week, Jermel Stevenson, Overland Park’s director of parks and recreation, told the Overland Park City Council Community Development Committee that the city expects to welcome swimmers to all four of its outdoor neighborhood and community pools this coming year.
Overland Park usually opens its pools for the season over Memorial Day weekend and closes them Labor Day weekend.
Where are Overland Park’s pools?
- Stonegate Pool, 9701 Antioch Road
- Tomahawk Ridge Aquatic Center, 11950 Lowell Ave.
- Young’s Pool, 8421 W. 77th St.
- Bluejacket Pool, 10101 Bond St.
Some Overland Park pools are getting old
- Stevenson warned that the plans to open all of the pools could be hampered by some “facility challenges.”
- Last season, for example, a leak delayed the opening of Bluejacket Pool and that pool didn’t open in 2022 due in part to structural issues.
- The full picture for the city’s swim season will be clearer as the summer gets closer.
The lifeguard shortage is still an issue
- In addition to aging facilities, Overland Park has faced a lifeguard shortage, which other Johnson County communities have also encountered over the past few years.
- Stevenson said that while staffing continues to be a challenge, he believes some of the city’s efforts to update how it recruits lifeguards and tries to retain them will minimize the impact in Overland Park.
- Overland Park also recently raised its pay structure for lifeguards.
The old Marty Pool is set to become a park
- Overland Park decommissioned Marty Pool near 75th Street and Conser in 2022.
- Currently, the former pool house serves as a temporary fire station as the city rebuilds Firehouse No. 41 nearby.
- After the reconstructed firehouse opens for service, the city will demolish the old pool house and convert the site into a neighborhood park.
- The city has estimated a $2.7 million budget for the park construction project.
- Previously, Overland Park closed Roe Pool and turned it into a park.
Overland Park plans to close more pools in the future
- In the 2013 Overland Park Park Master Plan, the city laid out plans to close more of its neighborhood pools “as they reach the end of their useful life.”
- That plan suggests Bluejacket Pool could be the next to close as it gets older, followed by Stonegate Pool in the 2030s or later.
- The exact timeline on that and what could become of those sites down the line is unclear.
- The master plan also calls for more spraygrounds — sometimes called splash pads — and the addition of a regional aquatic center in southern Overland Park.
More Overland Park recreation news: Overland Park is planning for the future of its parks system — How you can weigh in
