Chilly Weather Keeping Swimmers Away From Local Pools
FOREST PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- An unusually cool start to the summer season has been hampering attendance at some local swimming pools.
WBBM Newsradio's Lisa Fielding reports the fountains and slides have been up and running at Forest Park Aquatic Center, but there aren't many swimmers these days.
"This is the worst that I've ever seen it like this," said manager Bryan Palm.
Swimming Pool Attendance Down
The pool opened for the season on Memorial Day, but "I think that was one of the only few days that we actually opened up, and we've had maybe two or three days that we've actually had a full day's worth of having the pool open."
Lifeguard Mariah Carroll said Mother Nature has affected her paycheck.
"I try to get at least 40 hours a week, and at most last week I got 20," she said. "Whenever the weather is below 70 or anything, we can't work."
Even when she does work, Carroll said there's hardly anyone to keep an eye on.
"It's been really slow, and it's pretty much just boring," she said. "Its' really exciting when the pool's full, and it's really crowded, but there hasn't been a crowded day here so far. There's no one here. It's basically just watching water."
Palm says when she does work, it's chilly and boring.
"I'm wearing a sweatshirt, sweatpants. It gets really cold at night. We're just paid to watch water at this point," she said.
Palm said the pool decided to cancel all swim lessons due to the weather, but the pool is still open to the public.
"It's a safety issue for the kids. We let people know on our website if we have to cancel," Palm said. Swim lessons are paid for so we refund some of the price if the weather doesn't cooperate."
Approximately 60,000 people used the center last summer.
