Newton Pool Reopens After Vandalism Incident

NEWTON, MA — The lap pool at the Gath Pool complex reopened Monday afternoon after city crews spent the past week cleaning and restoring the facility following an act of vandalism that forced its temporary closure.

The lap pool reopened at 12 p.m. for adult swim and at 1 p.m. for open swim, Mayor Marc Laredo announced. The city said crews fully cleaned the pool, refilled it over the weekend and balanced the water's sanitizing chemicals before reopening it to the public.

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The pool closed after security cameras captured a group of people shortly after midnight on Sunday, June 21, setting off fireworks and throwing a beer bottle over the fence into the Gath Pool complex. When staff arrived later that morning, they found broken glass scattered across the pool deck, in the lap pool gutters, at the bottom of the pool and near a picnic area.

Because of concerns that small shards of glass could remain in the water, city officials drained the approximately 277,000-gallon lap pool before sweeping, power washing and refilling it. The cleanup process took about a week to complete. The family pool and splash pad remained open throughout the closure, though the lap pool shutdown disrupted lap swimming, swim lessons and Newton Bluefish swim team activities.

Laredo thanked employees from Newton Parks, Recreation and Culture, the Department of Public Works and the Newton Fire Department for their work to reopen the facility.

Newton police continue to investigate the vandalism.

The reopening comes as Crystal Lake remains closed after cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms were detected in a portion of the lake last week. Laredo said the first water sample collected after the closure came back clear Friday, and a second sample is scheduled to be taken Wednesday. If those results also meet Massachusetts Department of Public Health guidelines, the city expects to reopen Crystal Lake in time for the Fourth of July weekend.

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