By Andrea Uhde
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Marquia Britten lifts her arms and swings her hip as water rushes over her head.

In her mind, she's a singer in a music video. Really, she's a 10-year-old girl from Over-the-Rhine who spends hours upon hours at the neighborhood's new $1.5 million pool.

She could opt not to be a music star. She could be on the nearby streets, hanging out with drug dealers. The pool gives her something to do.

"You don't get in a lot of trouble with all of the bad stuff in the community," said Over-the-Rhine resident Martina Jenkins, who waded in the water with Marquia and her own daughter, Rishina. "They make sure you're safe here."

The Otto Armleder Aquatic Facility at 223 W. McMicken Ave. opened in early June, and since then it's been a magnet for children. Nearly 2,000 people have paid for summer memberships at the pool, said Courtney Ryan, the pool manager.

The shallow-water pool boasts the only water slide of the Cincinnati Recreation Commission's 41 swimming pools. Waterfalls spill out of colorful pipes. Water spurts out of the ground.

"This is the best pool," Ryan said. "Visually, it's beautiful."

Paid for with $1 million from the Armleder Trust and $500,000 from the National Park Service Urban Park and Recreation Program, the pool and its nearby basketball courts were important additions to the community, many say.

Before it, there was a deep-water pool, which was smaller and less popular. "Last year, I think people were scared to come down here because it wasn't nice," said Alexis Hamm, 16, ofAvondale, who was a lifeguard at the old pool.

"It was dirty; it was disgusting," Marquia recalled before wiggling down the baby-blue slide and splashing into the cool water.

The pool gets about 200 to 300 visitors each day, most younger than 12, Ryan said.

"Where would they go if they didn't come here?" she said.

The pool has offered swimming lessons and a class for parents and infants, but those weren't popular, she said. "It'll be progressive," Ryan said. "We just opened, and they're having fun with it."

Carrie Johnson, a former Over-the-Rhine community council president, said the pool has brought positive effects.

"It brightens the whole neighborhood," she said. "You can hardly see the water for the kids."

E-mail auhde@yahoo.com