Community Park Pool To Open For Modified Season On July 13

PRINCETON, NJ — The Community Park Pool will be opening on July 13 for a modified season, the Princeton Recreation Commission approved at its Wednesday night meeting. The pool opening, which is normally slated for Memorial Day weekend, had been pushed back due to coronavirus concerns.

"My staff and I are excited to get the pool open for the community," said Recreation Director Ben Stentz.

Gov. Phil Murphy had announced municipal and private-club swimming pools could reopen on June 22 amid the coronavirus outbreak with precautions in effect.

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Stentz noted the commission purposely took a "slow approach to their preseason pool preparations due to the great uncertainty about the status of pools for summer 2020."

By taking a slower approach the commission saved thousands of dollars in water, electric and chlorine expenses as they waited for the state to make a decision. The normal preseason pool prep work takes typically about 6 to 8 full weeks of work for a facility as large as Princeton's, Stentz said.

"In addition, the time we recaptured by not going full speed ahead on the pool back in April and May, led to savings of nearly $17,000 for the municipality by completing park maintenance work in-house that is normally outsourced to private contractors," Stentz said.

Guidelines and rules, which includes the modified schedule, fees, rules and regulations, safety precautions, and new policies, for when Community Park Pool is reopened will be released within a couple of days.

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