Pool Coalition Rallies At Metro Hall

A group called The Save Urban Pools Coalition is urging the city to restore funding to two of Louisville’s closed swimming pools.Earlier this month half of the city’s 10 swimming pools were not reopened for the summer because of underuse and disrepair. In light of a budget shortfall, Metro Government decided it wouldn’t be cost effective to repair and open the pools.On Thursday afternoon the coalition gathered at Metro Hall to urge the mayor to restore funding to Breslin and Shelby Park pools. Event organizer Aleve Douglas says the facilities weren’t very popular because the city didn’t promote them.“It’s pretty impossible to tell that that’s actually even a pool," says Douglas. "If you look at the structure there it’s not inviting at all. They haven’t’ made long-term plans in terms of increasing usership of these pools.”The group has raised more than $35,000 from local businesses towards re-opening the pools. The new budget for the next fiscal year does not include funding for the pools.