'Splash with Dash' Will Get Kids to the Old Town Pool This Summer

PHOTO of Old Town Pool courtesy of City of Alexandria

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The Alexandria Transit Company (DASH), in partnership with the Advocates for Alexandria Aquatics (AAA), and the City of Alexandria Department of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Activities (RPCA), have announced a new initiative to get families and children to the Old Town Pool this summer.

Approximately a dozen local businesses, along with the support of the USA Swimming Foundation – Make a Splash, are sponsoring free rides during July and August on DASH’s AT10 route, which provides service between Potomac Yard and the King Street Metro, via the neighborhoods of Arlandria, Warwick Village, Del Ray, and Rosemont. This initiative addresses the concern by the City and residents in those neighborhoods, that with the temporary closing of Warwick Pool this summer, families, and particularly children, may have a difficult time getting to the Old Town Pool on Cameron Street.

Since providing any type of shuttle service would have been cost prohibitive, DASH offered a creative and cost-effective way to get residents of the affected areas to the Old Town Pool on Cameron Street. Since the AT10 route serves all those neighborhoods, the route will become the free Pool Bus during the week between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., and on weekends from 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., starting Wednesday, July 1, for the entire summer, through the Labor Day weekend. DASH, RPCA, and AAA put out a call to the business community to sponsor the estimated loss of revenue on that route for the promotion period.

“The participating business sponsors signed up almost as soon as they were informed about this effort,” stated Sandy Modell, DASH general manager. “Alexandria’s business community is very generous and they wanted to help and thought this was a great idea!”

Business sponsors include:

High Dive Sponsor ($5,000 +)

· Jen Walker Team – McEnearney Associates, Inc.

· The JBG Companies

Kiddie Pool Sponsor ($1,000 - $2,500)

· Advocates for Alexandria Aquatics

· Bobi Bomar – The Homes of Alexandria

· Del Ray Business Community

· McLaughlin Ryder Investments

· Speck – Caudron Investment Group of Wells Fargo Advisors

· Warwick Village Citizens Association

Wading Pool Sponsor ($500 - $975)

· Pulte Homes

· Sports Authority – Potomac Yard

· The Liz Luke Team

· Sport Fair, Inc.

· Yates Automotive Group

· Yates Dry Cleaners

· Wes Greenway’s Alexandria VW

Alexandria Hyundai, The Alexandria Gazette, The Alexandria Times, and Hooray for Books are providing in-kind and other business contribution sponsorships.