The splash zone located at Veterans Park took a couple heavy hits at the beginning of the pool season with regards to kids getting foot abrasions by the rough services located at certain sections of the facility. Working hard with maintenance and pool staff as well as the company involved in applying the coats to the pool service, numbers have drastically dropped in terms of the number of injuries.
“This was a challenging year at the beginning,” said one pool employee. “But the upside is that the Board, the management team and the company involved in this work, put together an action plan making the conditions better and allowing for fewer incidents to happen.”
With close to a month now without a recorded incident, the parks board has been trying to stay out in front of this by implementing a chart recording the date an injury was reported, the location and the result. This will help shrink the number of rough surfaces and hopefully eliminate this situation for future days at the pool. It is a team effort and management has been adamant of relaying the info onto lifeguards and others on how they are to handle these situations moving forward.
With over a week of total closures at the pool throughout the summer, numbers have taken a dip compared to seasons before. But, as stated by both the Board and management, the safety of the kids and families comes first. Getting things straightened out and fixed has been the goal and the action plan has worked out as best as it can.
Long term planning will involve a possible complete draining of the pool, contracting a company to come in and do a complete sanding and cleaning of the areas of concern before we fill a portion of the area up as the winterizing of the property will start in mid-fall. Closure of the pool for the season will be based on the availability of staff as most kids are still in school.
“Lifeguards and other departments normally are kids who are still in school, and this is their summer gig,” related pool staff. “Scheduling gets harder and harder once we get into August as most will go to college, play fall sports in high school or other things not allowing them to work. But sometimes we alter the hours of work or find alternatives to keep the pool open – especially on the weekends.”
With less than a month of the pool being open at regular hours, families still have an opportunity to spend a vacation day right here in their backyard. The Splash Zone offers a lazy river, diving well, water slides and splash pad. A great facility where all families can enjoy a scorching summer day doing all sorts of activities. A full-service snack bar and mini-golf caps off a fun-filled day here at the Clarksburg Splash Zone.
