Some of the fun had returned Sunday for most visitors to the Lions Park Pool in Prospect Heights, where a 4-year-old boy drowned two days earlier.
Children climbed the staircase, slid down the spiral slide and swished into the pool. Others taunted friends by splashing water in their faces, and some just enjoyed a leisurely swim on a slow summer Sunday.
Though most of the parents on hand appeared relaxed as they stood in the pool or watched from the deck, some said they were saddened by Friday’s tragedy and concerned about their own youngsters.
“It scared the hell out of us,” said Steve Petersen, who took his four children to the pool on Sunday. “You never think it will happen in your neighborhood.”
Petersen, who has been coming to the Lions Park Pool at 110 W. Camp McDonald Rd. for the last two years, said he feels his kids are safe at the pool because it’s designed with an entire shallow end, as if it were a beach.
But he doesn’t allow his children to be unattended while they are in the water, he said.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office ruled Sunday that James Danos, of the 2300 block of Barberry Court, Arlington Heights, died from accidental drowning.
He died while attending summer camp at the pool Friday, although several lifeguards were on duty and other swimmers were present. Prospect Heights police and Park District officials said Sunday that the investigation of what happened was continuing, but declined further comment.
Under a wooden wall outside of the pool, several flowers lay on the ground. “God Bless” and a peace sign were written on the wall with pink and blue chalk.
The incident validates Sally Pickell’s rule of being the No. 1 lifeguard while her two children are in the water.
Pickell, of Lake Bluff, said she respects lifeguards, but doesn’t let her children leave her side when they are in the pool.
“It’s our rule that I am in charge of the pool,” said Pickell, who visited Lions Park for the first time on Sunday. “Pools can be very dangerous.”
On Sunday, Carol Dyrkacz’s said her youngest son was reluctant to go into the water. He had heard about the drowning and feared it could happen to him. It took him a little time to work up the courage to swim again, she said.
Dyrkacz, of Prospect Heights, said she has taken her children to the pool for the last 10 years.
“I don’t have any fears of bringing them here,” Dyrkacz said.
