If a heat wave hits in the final weeks of spring, residents won't have far to go to cool down.
Moody Park Outdoor Pool opened its doors for another season this week.
Hilary Knowles, the city's manager of aquatics, said the city's outdoor pools don't normally open until school ends for the year, but city council has given staff the goahead and funding to open the city's newest aquatic facility earlier in the season.
Moody Park Outdoor Pool opened June 5 and is open Monday to Friday from 3: 30 to 7: 30 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. Regular admissions apply during the week, but it's free on weekends.
"It's so weather dependent," Knowles said about attendance in June. "Last year was a little bit dismal because we had a fairly cold and wet spring."
When those pockets of good weather strike, however, attendance climbs at the outdoor pool.
Because Hume Park pool caters to families with young children, it doesn't open if the weather is overcast or rainy. But since Moody Park's pool is used by more young, independent swimmers, it opens on overcast days.
"What we have found is there is a clientele that will come on poor-weather days," Knowles said. "If it's raining, we would be closed."
In addition to public swims, various community groups are embracing this year's early opening of Moody Park Outdoor Pool.
"We take a bunch of school bookings in June," Knowles said. "We have our first birthday booking on Saturday, June 9. We do birthday bookings, people do neighbourhood barbecues. We kind of sell it as it's your backyard pool."
Starting this week, local youth will have the pool to themselves Wednesday nights from 7: 30 to 9 p.m. (and then from 8 to 9: 30 p.m. in July and August).
"It's a joint venture between youth services and ourselves," Knowles said of the youth swims. "They do different activities, put on the music."
The City of New Westminster filled the pool a little earlier than normal to test out some changes made to the facility and get it ship-shape for opening day.
"This year we have tweaked our chlorination systems in the pool," Knowles said. "That was part of our issue with having to have a dinnertime break."
Knowles said the city doesn't foresee any problems that would require the pool to be closed for an hour-long break in the late afternoon, but staff will monitor the pool's water quality throughout the swimming season.
The $5 million Moody Park Outdoor Pool, which opened in July 2009, initially had some cloudy water issues that caused staff to close the pool for a one-hour period daily around dinnertime to manage the problem. The city added an additional filter in the mechanical room during the off-season in an attempt to address some of the water issues.
Moody Park Outdoor Pool will remain open until Labour Day.
