Lifeguard shortages blamed as some outdoor pools in western New York City limit hours, others stay dry

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For many, beating the summer heat means heading to a nearby public swimming pool. This was not an option last summer due to the COVID pandemic, but even now many public swimming pools only hold limited hours or remain closed. Local municipal recreation offices say there are no lifeguards to fully staff their pools.

In the cities of Buffalo and Niagara Falls, outdoor pools will remain closed this season. The City of Cheektowaga, which normally operates three swimming pools, will only open one this summer.

The Town of West Seneca opened its brand new water play area on July 1 and will make it available seven days a week, 12 hours a day. But the adjacent large swimming pool will operate at very limited times, starting July 6. Hours will be 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Thursday, until August 4.

West Seneca Recreation Supervisor Lauren Masset says they have to because of their number of employees. It is not for lack of trying.

We started recruiting aggressively in December 2020. For this season, we had limited applicants around March or April. So we ended up offering up to $ 500 in bonuses to anyone who qualifies to try and recruit them to open these programs and facilities, she said. We were able to find enough regular lifeguards. But unfortunately, we could not find enough lifeguards, someone who really wanted to be in charge of the pool or who was able to meet these qualifications.

The city of Buffalo, which confirmed Thursday that it will not be opening its seven outdoor pools and two wading pools this summer, also suggests that it has tried unsuccessfully to recruit enough staff for the summer season.

In a prepared written statement, Deputy Parks and Recreation Commissioner Andrew Rabb said: “In March, we started contacting all of the lifeguards who worked for us in 2019, the last time all of our indoor and outdoor pools were open. While we were able to hire enough lifeguards to open our two indoor pools, and we will be hiring additional staff to extend hours at these facilities, there simply aren’t enough certified lifeguards to open the outdoor pools.

Tonawanda City, meanwhile, is one of the luckiest governments this summer. Mark Campanella, superintendent of youth, parks and recreation, said their Lincoln and Kenmore pools, as well as their Mang Avenue wading pool, are open. They have staff, but Campanella admits that just one setback could cause problems.

Fortunately for the moment, we can open. But at any time, if a lifeguard leaves our call and doesn’t show up for work, we’ll likely have to close some of the pools due to New York State Department of Health restrictions and guidelines on the number of people. lifeguards. per square foot of pool, he said.

New York State guidelines require at least one lifeguard per 3,400 square feet of swimming pool. Masset believes the pandemic is playing a role in the shortage of lifeguards, with lifeguard certification programs being suspended last year. The Red Cross is again offering lifeguard certification training, but Campanella notes that the courses currently offered are too late in the season to hire more lifeguards.

There was a shortage before the pandemic, according to Campanella, and those just starting out now have to pay large sums of money for certification.

He also suggests that extended unemployment benefits and other financial lifelines launched during the pandemic work against recruitment efforts.

There are Help Wanted signs everywhere, in just about every storefront, every restaurant, every store, whatever it is, people have to go to work, Campanella said. Right now you have people at home absorbing the money they get from unemployment. And until that is lifted, the crisis will continue.

As for the inhabitants of the municipalities where the swimming pools are closed, they do not have this year the possibility of going to the nearest municipality and paying a non-resident fee to enter. -the subsistence costs only admit residents of the city who present a leisure identity card.

Because we have a limited staff, we also have a limited capacity, we can only have 50% of our maximum capacity in the pool at a time, said Masset. For this reason, the Veterans Park swimming pool will be limited to residents only, with a valid membership card. They must present this membership card at the time of admission to the pool.

These cards are usually available for purchase at the city recreation office.

The Town of Tonawanda and the Town of Amherst also restrict access to the pool to residents. Amherst, in addition, requires pre-registration for reserved time slots.

In the meantime, some department heads are already planning next summer, hoping there will be enough interest to fill lifeguard positions.

My fingers crossed for next year, said Masset. My fingers crossed and I have high hopes this year that no one backs down or resigns, and that we can continue our season. And I’m keeping my fingers crossed for next year and trying to find other avenues to recruit for 2022.

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