This weekend marks the opening of Rochester's two public pools.
The Soldiers Field pool will open, weather permitting, on Saturday. The pool will be open Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday it will be open from noon to 5 p.m.
The Silver Lake pool is scheduled to open June 13. The Silver Lake pool will be open from 1 p.m to 8 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Tuesdays and Thursdays, the pool will be open from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Daily admission to the pools is $4 for youth and $5 for adults. In addition, there is a $2 fee per family for access to the zero-depth kiddie pools. A package of ten passes may be purchased for $32. Neither pool will open if the temperature is below 70 degrees.
This summer is the first year that the city of Rochester is turning over the staffing and management of its two outdoor pools to the Rochester Swim Club Orcas. The Orcas will be responsible for managing the staff and providing programming such as swimming lessons, but the city will remain in charge of maintenance.
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This change, voted on by the Rochester Park Board in April, was made for financial reasons. The city has consistently lost money by operating the two outdoor pools. City Recreation Supervisor Ben Boldt estimated the two pools combined have added up to about an $80,000 loss for the city in recent seasons.
This one-year deal means that, while the Orcas are financially responsible for staffing the pools, they will also collect money through daily admissions and rentals. In addition, the city has agreed to cover the first $10,000 of any potential financial loss sustained by the Orcas. If the club is able to turn a profit, they will keep 70 percent of the money, and give the city 30 percent.
This is not the first time that Rochester has turned the management of public pools to an outside party. The Rochester Area Family Y took responsibility for the Silver Lake Pool from 2009-2010 before turning it back over to the city.
