LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – In a recent report, public swimming pools are disappearing from communities all across America, though some legislators in Michigan are standing against the tide.

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According to data from the National Recreation and Park Association, there is currently one outdoor pool for every 38,000 people in America – an increase of 4,000  people per pool since 2015.  

Michigan’s Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II announced that he was paying tribute to one of Michigan’s most important swimming pools, which is currently without water. 

Gilchrist said that he visited Moore’s Park last weekend to celebrate the funding Representatives Kara Hope (D-Holt) and Emily Dievendorf (D-Lansing), and Senator Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) secured in the latest budget to reopen the park’s pool. 

“This pool has served Lansing residents for nearly 100 years before it was shut down in 2019,” Rep. Hope said to Michigan News Source in an email, “The Moore’s Park Pool was initially opened in 1922 by city engineer Wesley Bintz, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Bintz built over 100 municipal pools across the country, with Moores Park Pool being the oldest surviving and longest operating.”

Out of the latest legislature’s budget, $6.2 million was secured for the purpose of the Moore’s Park restoration.  Rep. Hope added why she believed it was important to invest in public recreational spaces like swimming pools. 

“Public recreation spaces like swimming pools help build community, get more residents outside and physically active, and provide relief from hot weather,” she said in an email, “Having access to a public pool gives children an opportunity to learn how to swim and increases the quality of life for community members.”

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In addition the renovation would promote “equity” according to Rep. Hope by providing a space for all residents.  

 “The restoration and re-opening of Moore’s Park Pool will serve the public by providing a recreation space for residents to cool off and be active,” she said in an email, “Private swim lessons and pools often come with an expensive price tag, but this will give children a barrier-free opportunity to swim and learn water safety. Reopening this pool will also serve the public by creating a space for people to gather, get to know their neighbors, and feel a sense of community.”

 Even though public schools experienced their broadest support and greatest era during the New Deal between 1933 and 1938, Michigan’s historic park was built just over a decade before the influx in swimming pool development. 

“Aside from the architectural significance of the Moores Park Pool, many longtime Lansing residents have a personal history with the pool that goes back generations,” Rep. Hope said in an email.