Cranston’s Budlong Pool Will Not Open This Summer - “Scaled-Down” Pool Slated to Open in 2024
Monday, March 27, 2023
Cranston Mayor Ken Hopkins announced this week the city's Budlong Pool will not open in 2023 -- and after repairs and alterations will emerge with a new look targeted opening for summer 2024.
Hopkins announced a "multi-phase" plan to renovate and reopen the community pool.
According to Hopkins, the first phase of this plan will include a scaled-down version of a new, zero-entry handicap accessible pool and a renovated bathhouse for the 2024 summer season.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTLater phases are slated to include the addition of a splash pad, and possibly pickleball courts or other neighborhood amenities.
WPA History -- and Current Usage
Hopkins said that as one of the largest Olympic size pools in the region, the Budlong Pool facility has been a community resource for thousands of families and children.
It was built in the rise of the federal Works Progress Administration (“WPA”) that provided needed relief for unemployed Americans with jobs and income to those seriously impacted by the national depression. As a local symbol of the national infrastructure building program, it opened for use in 1940, according to Hopkins' office.
“Over the course of eight decades, this pool has seen some good years,” Hopkins said. “However, there have also been many years with physical and mechanical challenges to annually open it for community enjoyment. No public structure lasts forever. Today this facility stands in need of a major overhaul – not just another band aid approach where we spend good money for limited short term repairs.”
The last major overhaul of this pool was reported to be in 1997. Hopkins said many mayors have overseen minor renovations and short-term fixes to get through another summer program. The pool was closed in 2020 – prior to Hopkins taking office – due to the Covid health crisis.
“Upon taking office I quickly realized that the overall condition of the pool was unsafe and unwise to re-open with just a quick fix,” Hopkins said.
In the last season of use, the city only sold about 350 passes for the pool. Today, Hopkins said, the city is talking about spending millions of dollars to restore a facility that is not used or open year-round.
“That does not even touch on the operating expenses of running the pool with summer staff and lifeguards, the actual filling of the pool with water, and expenses like chemicals and routine equipment repairs,” Hopkins added.
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