Troubled waters at east-side pool

The Baltimore Sun

Within the first two weeks that the Patterson Park pool in East Baltimore opened, the staff had not a single pen to write receipts for its patrons' $25 summer-long memberships. Even if there had been a supply of pens, no one had any paper receipts.

And a swimming schedule? Not posted. Even yesterday, the staff was unsure if a 4-year-old girl could swim for free or if her mother had to pony up a membership fee.

When the pool's female manager was pushed into the water last week by a group of unruly youths who refused to leave, many visitors to the renovated, $2.25 million aquatic center in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood had had enough.

In a letter sent Monday to Mayor Sheila Dixon, recreation and parks chief Connie A. Brown and other city officials, some of the pool's patrons said "mayhem" and "disorder" have marked the atmosphere of the facility. The residents noted a lack of communication of pool policies from management and inadequate staffing, including too few lifeguards, as major contributors to the pool's troubles.

Rebecca Smith, one of the four women who authored the letter, said the pool needs more lifeguards - preferably older than the teens currently employed, who would be better equipped to handle the disciplining of children not following safety rules.

"The pool is really important to people," said Smith, 31, of Upper Fells Point, in an interview. "It's sort of what summer is to many children ... spending all day at the pool. That's what I did as a kid. So parents in the neighborhood, we want the pool to succeed. But we need a basic level of order and safety and consistency to have the environment we want."

Portia Harris, associate director of recreation and parks, acknowledged yesterday that the pool, which reopened last year after major renovations, has been the scene of some unfortunate incidents. The same afternoon the letter was sent, Harris - along with Brown and Andrew B. Frank, the deputy mayor for neighborhood and economic development - visited the pool to meet with staff and address some of the issues. Frank said he has submitted a plan for the mayor's review.

"I share the concern of general public," Harris said. "We want to ensure that all our swimming facilities are safe. And we did see the need to address those concerns. All of the issues that were outlined, we are investigating."

Harris said the incidents, including when a staff member was pushed into the pool by patrons, are not indicative of the pool's typical atmosphere. The pool has been consistently staffed with a school or city police officer, she said, and about 20 people are employed at the pool.

"During the first week of operation, that's when the on-the-job training comes into play," Harris said. "They're trying to iron out the issues. Everyone is new. The swim season is new."

Standing outside the pool's gate yesterday, Shoshana Fishbein, 38, described the problems as usual government hassles, saying, "It's sort of very typical red-tape bureaucracy. It just goes around in circles."

When she and some other mothers offered to volunteer recently, she said, a pool staff member told her they had to be organized through the city and had to be fingerprinted.

Fishbein, who lives across the street from the pool, said that one afternoon last week she saw six police cars at the pool, along with two police helicopters hovering. "It is such a beautiful facility," Fishbein said. "The city did a great job building it. But the problem is, it's so badly managed."

Ericka Hardy, a resident of Brewers Hill, was equally irked yesterday. "If they would just say the same thing two times in a row," said Hardy, 35, who was first told that her 4-year-old daughter, Abby, did not have to pay a $25 membership fee, and then that she did.

"I'm just done," she said. "The kids can wade in my backyard pool. There's nothing posted. Every time you talk to a different person, you hear something different."

For others, even on a slightly windy and overcast afternoon such as yesterday, the pool - at $1.50 a visit - is a huge draw.

Flip-flop-clad Tammy Colvin, 40, has visited the pool several times since its opening. She was working on her tan and watching her two nephews - Malik Hutchinson, 10, and Bobby Blaylock, 13 - as they swam.

"I think they got enough [lifeguards], and they got police officers here to watch out if a fight breaks out," Colvin said. "I like it. I have no complaints. If I didn't like it, I wouldn't keep coming out."

nicole.fuller@baltsun.com

Copyright © 2021, The Baltimore Sun, a Baltimore Sun Media Group publication | Place an Ad
72°