Locals urge the City of Yuma to re-open Kennedy Park Pool

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) - Dozens of local swimmers and community members packed Yuma’s most recent City Council meeting Wednesday night, calling for the reopening of Kennedy Park Pool, a longtime community fixture that has remained closed since 2019.

The pool was initially shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic and has not reopened since. Residents say the closure has created growing challenges for swimmers, teams, and families across the city.

Before its closure, Kennedy Park Pool operated for approximately two months each year and cost the city close to $200,000 annually, according to Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls. In a Facebook post, Nicholls also noted that the pool had the lowest attendance numbers among the four pools operated by the city.

Despite those figures, swimmers and coaches argue that the demand for pool space has increased significantly in recent years, making the loss of Kennedy Park Pool more impactful than attendance data alone suggests.

“I think it’s just important. We want our voice heard,” said Myriah VanBuskirk, head coach of Yuma Heat Swim, who attended the meeting alongside athletes and families.

Yuma Heat Swim Team President Shannon Rouff said reopening the pool could address a gap in the city’s aquatic facilities. Whether it remains the same size, or is expanded to a long-course pool, benefits will present themselves.

“We’ve taught a ton of kids how to swim here and if there’s another opportunity in another neighborhood where we could send some coaches over to that pool at Kennedy and we can help other kids, and even adults,” Rouff said.

While local teams are generally able to schedule practices and competitions, limited pool availability often leads to overcrowding, especially during the high school swim season.

“Every high school, basically, has a swim team now, which is amazing,” Rouff said. “But we also still have our club swim team that’s year-round, so sometimes you’d go to the pools - Marcus and the Valley Aquatic Center - during high school and it’s like sardines in a can trying to swim.”

Swimmers say the congestion affects both training quality and safety.

“I do see it as a problem because it’s hard when you have kids of different ages at different swimming levels swimming in one lane together,” said Yuma Heat swimmer Piper Katz.

Another swimmer, Avery Layton, said limited access to pool time makes it difficult to prepare adequately.

"There’s so many teams that need the pool, and with the short pools, we don’t have enough time to get the practice we need,” Layton said.

Athletes also emphasized the competitive disadvantage of not having access to a long-course pool locally.

“It would be an amazing benefit,” said swimmer Eleanor Hauck. “We’re constantly at a disadvantage. We don’t get to swim long-course until we go to the meets and we’re warming up for that race.”

Beyond athletic development, the team emphasized that reopening - or redeveloping - the pool could provide economic and community-wide benefits.

“We would be able to host all these meets during the whole summer, which would obviously bring a lot of revenue to our Yuma community,” VanBuskirk said. “But I think it’s more about space, safety, and having more availability to where we can have more classes.”

The Yuma City Council is expected to discuss the future of Kennedy Park Pool during a Capital Improvement Program meeting scheduled for May.