Dubuque Pools Are Now Open!

Dan Kroger is the Recreation Division Manager for the City of Dubuque Leisure Services. He checked in this morning to give us a heads up on what's happening with city pools this summer.

The pools opened for the season on Tuesday (6/1) and Dan said the adult swimmers have already been showing up at 6:45am to get their swims in.

The pools include Flora Pool (at 2525 Green Street in Dubuque) and Sutton Pool (at 1900 Hawthorne Street). The schedules have been released but Dan said there's been a little confusion as to why the hours for each facility are a little wonky.

A lot of people guessed it was due to the pandemic, but Dan insists it's simply a staffing issue.

Until June 11th, Flora pool will be the only open pool. Monday through Friday adult swim will go from 7am to 11am and open swim goes from noon to 4:30pm. Saturday and Sunday, June 5th and 6th, there will be open swim from 10am until 1pm. There will be a break and then the pool will reopen from 1:30 to 4:30pm.

Starting on Saturday, June 12th, the normal schedule for the season will begin. Again, due to staffing issues, one pool will run at full operation while the other operates at a reduced operation.

This will follow the two week lesson schedule.

If you or someone you know is a strong swimmer, Leisure Services is definitely looking for lifeguards and other staff, so apply and learn more at the City of Dubuque website.

During a typical summer there are usually 60 to 80 lifeguards hired. They have to go through a certification process and right now they only have about 30... hence the staff shortage and limited hours.

Moms and dads... there are still some other great programs coming up for the summer, so Dan suggests you simply follow the Leisure Services Facebook page for upcoming activities you may want to check out.

Out of curiosity, I asked Dan how long it takes to fill a city pool. He said about 3 days to fill it and get it circulating, and another 2 days to get the chemical levels right.

I for one can't wait to get in the pool this summer to stay cool!

~Chris Farber