Pools ready to help Sch'dy beat the heat

PHOTOGRAPHER: Marc Schultz

Left to right, Darnell Clarke, Michael Bellick and Herman Figueroa who work for S.N.A.P. (Schenectady Neighborhood Assist Program) clean and get the Quackenbush Park pool ready to filll with water on Wednesday morning.

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At a glance

Pool information for the city of Schenectady:

Central Park Pool, Central Park

• Open Friday, June 27-Sunday, Aug. 25

• Free admission

• Hours: Monday-Friday, 12:30-6 p.m.

• Saturdays and Sundays, 1-5 p.m.

Hillhurst Park Pool, Campbell Avenue

• Open Monday, June 30-Friday, Aug. 22

• Free admission

• Hours: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

• Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

• Family swim: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5-6 p.m. (2 children per 1 adult)

• Closed Saturdays and Sundays

• No swim lessons offered

Quackenbush Park Pool, Forest Road

• Open Monday, June 30-Friday, Aug. 22

• Free admission

• Hours: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, 12:30-6 p.m.

• Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:30-5 p.m.

• Family swim: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5-6 p.m (2 children per 1 adult)

• Saturdays, 1-5 p.m. Closed Sundays

Front Street Pool

• Open Monday June 30-Saturday, Aug. 23

• $3 for adults; $1.50 for children ages 3-14; free for children under 3.

• Free admission for YWCA members

• Hours: Monday-Saturday, noon-6 p.m.

• Closed Sundays

It’s summer vacation, and city pools are at last opening.

Central Park Pool will be open today, with Quackenbush and Hillhurst following Monday.

Unlike last year, there will be a consistent ID policy at all three pools. Swimmers ages 13 and older must have identification. Younger swimmers are encouraged to bring a school ID or have one made on-site by the Schenectady County Sheriff’s Department, but they don’t have to have one.

Until now, all swimmers at Hillhurst and Quackenbush had to have an ID, while those 13 and older needed them at Central Park. According to pool director Julie Rouse, the new rule is designed to be more accommodating to kids looking to spend time poolside with their friends and now, in increasing numbers, their families.

The ID rule was designed to prevent kids from causing trouble at the pools. If a teenager misbehaves, their ID card will be taken, cutting off their access to other city pools. It’s enforced by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Schenectady, which oversees the Quackenbush, Hillhurst and Central Park pools.

At the Front Street pool, run by the YWCA, photo IDs will only be required for swimmers ages 14 and older. That pool will also open Monday. It is the only one that charges for admission.

According to YWCA outreach worker Ronelle McGlothan, the pool doesn’t have very many kids breaking the rules, partly due to the occasional presence of bicycle cops riding by the pool.

Kids ages 13 and younger need to be accompanied by an adult at all city pools.

Sheriff’s deputies will be stationed at the city pools occasionally to make Safe Child identification cards for children who have no photo ID. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Schenectady is still scheduling dates with the Sheriff’s Department.

Free swimming lessons will be offered at Quackenbush Pool between 10 a.m and noon weekdays. At Central Park Pool, free lessons will also be offered weekdays during the last two weeks of August.

At the Front Street Pool, free lessons will be offered from 10 to 10:45 a.m. July 14-18 and 11 to 11:45 a.m. Aug. 4-8.