BY CINDY SCHROEDER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT -- During the first week of operation for Veterans' Memorial Pool this season, Campbell County's only public pool experienced nearly a hundred-fold increase in attendance.
But while Newport's Olympic-sized pool has experienced that huge jump in attendance, the opening of four smaller, city-run wading pools has been delayed until June 29.
"Usually in June, the weather isn't as warm, so we talked about having (the wading pools) open later," Newport City Manager Jim Parsons said.
Last year, city officials delayed opening the wading pools in the Gateway, Clifton, Cote Brilliante and Bernadette Watkins neighborhood parks because of concerns about safety and liability. However, city officials said those concerns were addressed before the last two of the city's wading pools opened on July 1 last year.
Veterans Memorial Pool also experienced changes last year that are partially responsible for this year's surge in attendance, said Rob Lindemann, Newport's director of parks and recreation. More than $50,000 worth of improvements were made, including light fixture and restroom renovations, and new fencing that adds space around the pool.
Besides the improvements, Mr. Lindemann said this year's warm weather has helped boost attendance at Veterans Memorial Pool, which opened on a limited schedule May 23.
In May 1997, only 11 people visited Veterans Memorial Pool, compared with 959 people for May 1998, Mr. Lindemann said. Attendance also has increased each day the pool has been open this year.
"I think a lot of people were just not aware of the changes (at Veterans Memorial Pool) at first," Mr. Lindemann said. "When people visited the pool last year and saw its condition and how it was run, they kind of spread the word."
Newport's four wading pools also experienced physical and procedural changes last year, after city staff expressed concerns about whether they could be operated in compliance with health standards.
The city addressed the concerns by providing first-aid kits at each of the four wading pools, sealing the cracks and breaks in the pools' concrete, providing attendants with cell phones to summon help in case of emergencies, and testing the chlorine levels on a regular basis to ensure that the pools were sanitary.
The free wading pools, which average 40 to 50 users a day, mostly from their immediate neighborhoods, are open to children 12 and under, Mr. Lindemann said.
Former pool attendant Cindy Haigis said she's glad to see the wading pools reopen after last year's controversy.
"It's the only thing some of these kids have to do," the Clifton mother of four said. "Some of these kids are too small for Veterans Pool. If the pools are open, they're not on the streets, and they stay out of trouble."
