JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As the summer heat ramps up, Action News Jax has learned nearly half of the public pools in Jacksonville are closed. Of the 33 public pools in the city, 16 haven’t opened because of staffing and maintenance issues.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
“We actually have a supply chain shortage as well as staffing issue as for being able to hire lifeguards,” Director of Parks and Rec for the city of Jacksonville, Daryl Joseph said.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
The city has hired 246 lifeguards to work at the pools this summer, but they still have 114 openings.
“Started early as far as recruiting for lifeguards, we started that last year, so we’ve gone through training classes, all of our lifeguards are certified,” he said.
A spokesperson for the city provided the following list, which shows which city pools are currently closed. The “R” stands for repair issue while the “S” stands for staffing issue.
| Public Pools | “R” Repair Issue / “S” Staffing Issue |
|---|---|
| Baldwin Middle/High School | R |
| Robert Kennedy Pool | R |
| San Souci Pool (Adolph Wurn Park) | R |
| Terry Parker High School | R |
| Carvill Park Pool | S |
| Charles Clark Pool | R/S |
| Ed White High School | R/S |
| Emmett Reed Pool | R |
| Englewood High School | R/S |
| Eugene Butler Pool | S |
| Golfair Park Pool (C.T. Brown) | R/S |
| Highlands Middle School | R/S |
| Mallison Park Pool | R/S |
| Paxon High School | R/S |
| Raines High School | R/S |
| Sunny Acres Pool Note: Overall Park renovation project to create a destination location for citizens with disabilities | R/S |
“I wouldn’t say it’s a problem at this point we have opened about 18 pools, which is consistent with the number of pools we’ve opened for last 2 or 3 years at this point,” Joseph said.
Joseph says some of the pools that haven’t opened also have algae issues, but he insisted the main issue is lack of lifeguards and says it’s not something happening just in Jacksonville. Joseph also says they’re working to get them open as soon as they can.
“Men and women working every day to open additional pools but the main thing is making sure the pools we do have open, that they’re opened safely,” he said.
Action News Jax asked Joseph what could change moving forward to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“We will start even earlier this upcoming year, we will work with schools and swim clubs to get as many lifeguards as possible,” he said.
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Joseph wasn’t able to provide any sort of timeline of when the public pools could open. If anyone is interested in becoming a lifeguard, they can email: bealifeguard@coj.net.
