BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — With the Queen City experiencing temperatures in the 90's, many are hoping to spend the day at a public outdoor pool, yet many in the Western New York area are not reopening. A lack of available lifeguards is a main reason many say the pools will remain closed.
Town of Cheektowaga:
The Town of Cheektowaga is only able to open one of three public pools in the Town. They say the main reason is that a lack of lifeguards has made staffing incredibly difficult.
"We just could not get enough lifeguards to open up all of our pools in the Town of Cheektowaga," Councilmember Brian Pilarski, said, "we usually have 55 lifeguards to get all three pools open and this year we could only get 30 lifeguards."
The Town Park Pool is the only one that will be opening. Councimember Pilarski said that the town is now looking into splash pads as an alternative in the future in case these lifeguard shortages happen again.
City of Buffalo:
The City of Buffalo said that their outdoor pools will remain closed for the same staffing reasons. They will still have their splash pads available in addition to the two indoor pools remaining open. Starting July 5th, the indoor pools will allow for walk-ins.
Town of Tonawanda:
In the Town of Tonawanda, Brighton Pool is closed due to staffing issues, but the town's other two pools, Mang and Lincoln are open to swimmers.
City of Niagara Falls:
Despite multiple inquiries, Niagara Falls did not inform us of when their pools would reopen. As of now NONE of their pools are open.
