The countdown is on to the reopening of Albany's Lincoln Park Pool. And construction is continuing during one of the hottest stretches on record.
With 10 days left before the planned opening of the $20 million Lincoln Park pool project, a stiflingly hot summer day is punctuated by the sound of machinery: a grader leveling the road around the bathhouse.
Lincoln Park was established as Albany's first public playground in 1900. Its centerpiece swimming pool opened July 4th, 1931. But the pool leaked since the day it was built, and in its last decade of operation was losing up to 500,000 gallons of water a day. It was also rife with drainage and filtration issues.
The city took the first steps to re-imagine the pool in September 2018, followed by several public sessions and community meetings.
A little more than a year ago, Mayor Kathy Sheehan was joined by several officials and a group of Albany schoolchildren for a ceremonial groundbreaking.
"There's a lot that's going to be happening. It's going to take a while," Sheehan said. "It's not going to be opened this summer. But our goal is to have a new Lincoln Park pool open by July 4th, 2025. What do you guys say to that?" (Children cheer.)
Sheehan promised in time Lincoln Park and its pool would be a source of community pride.
Renovation plans announced that day by Department of Recreation Commissioner Jonathan Jones included installation of a 10,000-square foot walk-in pool, a 10-lane lap pool, a splashpad, a water slide and half-sized Olympic lap pool. The historic bathhouse next to the pool would be renovated, outfitted with new lockers, showers and restrooms.
"Not only will this have an Olympic-sized pool, so once our young people learn how to swim, they can swim freely, will have a zero entry pool while they're learning. We'll also have a spray pad for our little ones and for folks like me who just want to get wet and watch their children as they swim," said Jones, who was out of the office Tuesday and not available for comment.
City Hall responded to an inquiry about whether the project is still on target for a July 4th opening via email, saying "We will have an update in the very near future." The city website listing available pools and spray pads scattered across Albany mentions July 5th.
And residents take note: when the pool opens, you'll be asked to set up an account with Department of Recreation to gain admission.
