YORK COUNTY, Pa. — Summer may be coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean the heat is going away anytime soon which has some residents wondering if their local pools are staying open a little longer.
More than likely, most community pools will shut their gates for the summer after Sept. 4.
Russ Jacobs, owner of Green Valley Swimming Club says, “our members join for the season, and they know the season is from Memorial Day Sunday to Labor Day Monday.”
For some, Labor Day weekend is the unofficial end of summer. However, Jacobs views Labor Day Weekend as the last weekend for business, and the weekend where he is least staffed.
“Everybody is in school so there’s no kids around to come to the pool and in the evenings, you have all the sports,” Jacobs said.
Jacob’s employees students in high school and college. Most of his staff leave Pennsylvania once colleges restart in the Fall. This leaves Jacobs short, staffed post Labor Day weekend. Those who remain in high school simply don’t have the time to juggle school and work.
“I got a lot going on right now with school just starting up, I got PSATs this year, SATs this year that I got to start studying for,” said Nick Diluca, senior lifeguard at Green Valet Swimming Club.
Similarly, Addie Peel began her employment at the swim club prior to her freshman year of high school. She said she struggled with her schoolwork when she first started working.
“I’d come to the pool right after school which was kind of hard because I was trying to have time management with my homework,” Peel said.
It also costs 1,000 dollars more a week to maintain the swim club, according to Jacobs. Most of the maintenance surrounds the four water areas the club offers. This includes the main pool, lap pool, kiddy pool, and water park with water slide.
“It’s 200 dollars a day just to keep the chemicals that run the filter for the pool behind me and we have two other pools and a water park,” Jacobs said.
But even with a short staff and the cost of maintenance, Jacobs doesn’t expect enough guests to warrant extending the schedule another weekend. Other pools across York County reflect this idea, including Wisehaven Swimming Pool.
“We know there’ll be nobody here next week even if we did stay open,” Jacobs said.
The weather is expected to be in the nineties next weekend, meaning residents will have to find alternative ways to cool off.