Portsmouth Outdoor Pool to Possibly Open. With Safety Measures.
Okay, so it’s not officially summer till the pool opens, am I right? According to seacoastonline.com, the outdoor pool on Peirce Island could reopen if the Health Department is satisfied with the COVID-19 restrictions and safety measures in place. I love pools. Best part about pools is there are no sharks. In a City Council meeting Monday night, Health Agent Kim McNamara pointed out the shrinking numbers of reported COVID cases in our area but said that mitigation efforts must continue in order to keep those numbers down.
We all remember when it was announced that the outdoor pool would NOT be reopening this summer on May 7, so this comes as a bit of surprise. Portsmouth residents should be proud of the way they handled the mitigation efforts to flatten the curve of COVID-19 but that doesn’t mean the virus is gone. McNamara detailed that the safe reopening plan for the pool would mean a cap of 50 people at a time, in one-hour increments, would be able to swim.
Between those hours would entail a half hours’ time to disinfect the area and to get the swimmers out and usher in the next 50. McNamara went on to say” We will begin to look at other outdoor rec opportunities such as playgrounds soon,” according to reporting by seacoastonline.com. It appears that summer will look very different in 2020 but not all hope is lost if they are considering opening the pool. Would you go swimming? The firm decision by the City will remain tabled until the next meeting but at least we have hope.