Two popular Elgin summertime destinations, Lords Park Family Aquatic Center and Festival Park’s splash pad, are reopening this summer after years of closure.
Lords Park pool closed four years ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic and as a cost-saving measure. Only after a group of residents rallied the city to reopen it did the Elgin City Council agree to pay for repairs so the east side facility would return this year.
The council voted last July to spend an estimated $500,000 to get the pool ready to open this season.
“We’re currently filling the pool and will soon run tests on the mechanical systems,” Parks and Recreation Director Maria Cumpata said. “Following an inspection by the Illinois Department of Public Health, we’ll announce the opening date for Lords Park (pool).”
Wing Park Family Aquatic Center’s opening date is June 1, Cumpata said.
Lords Park pool has been closed for four years, so it needed some maintenance work done.
The work included resurfacing the bathhouse floors, finishing and repainting both flume slides, installing new chlorinators and chemical units, adding new water fountains, plaster patching and repainting the main pool, and installing new rope around the pool deck, Cumpata said.
A concern Parks and Rec officials had about reopening the pool was finding enough lifeguards to staff each of Elgin’s three pools, which include Lords Park, Wing Park and the Edward Schock Centre of Elgin indoor pool. There’s been a shortage of lifeguards locally and nationally for several years.
“We’ve hired a full staff of lifeguards and attendants for all three pools,” Cumpata said.
The Festival Park splash pad closed last year due to mechanical issues.
Cumpata said the repair work consisted of replacing the pump, jet and control system at a cost of over $1 million. No other work is planned except minor touch-ups and aesthetic enhancements are scheduled this summer, she said.
The splash pad is scheduled to be ready for use on Memorial Day weekend, pending final approval from the state public health department, Cumpata said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
