BECKLEY, W.V. (LOOTPRESS) – Despite numerous attempts to recruit lifeguards, the city will not open the New River Park Pool this summer, says Parks and Recreation Director Leslie Baker.
At the beginning of the summer, the City of Beckley announced that the New River Park Pool, which had been operating on a limited schedule for quite some time and had been seeing a decline in lifeguards since 2013, would not be opening for the 2021 summer season.
The announcement sparked a response from residents, many of whom commented on the city’s social media pages saying they knew someone who was interested in lifeguarding.
Last week, Baker said in a Beckley City Council meeting that the city received permission from the pool’s insurance company to lower the eligible age to lifeguard from 18 to 16. They also raised the lifeguard wage from $10 an hour to $12 to $15, depending on experience.
In an effort to help recruit lifeguards and get the New River Park Pool up and running, Beckley’s YMCA agreed to reserve lanes at their pool and held a pre-requisite course on Saturday, June 26, 2021.
Nearly 15 individuals signed up for the course, but only nine showed up Saturday morning. Of those nine potential lifeguards, Baker says only one passed the course.
The city needed at least six to proceed in opening the pool.
“We knew there was a problem for years,” Baker said of the lifeguard issue. “We have a manpower problem, and my department is really feeling the effects. It’s not just a Beckley problem; it’s a national problem. Times have changed, and it’s not the preferred summer job that it used to be.”
Baker is right in saying that Beckley isn’t the only city with lifeguard problems. News reports from media outlets across the country have shown that interest in lifeguarding is on the decline. They also show that drownings are on the rise.
“It just goes to show that the less lifeguards and the less people that you have to train, the more people that are going to drown. It’s very, very unfortunate,” Baker noted.
Baker says the city will have to partner with the Y and figure out new recruiting strategies in the year to come.
“I cannot emphasize this enough; the Parks and Rec Department wants nothing more than to have the pool open and running. We want that pool open,” Baker said. “It is one of the largest assets the community has for an amenity for our citizens. There is just no interest in being lifeguards.”
The city’s smaller pool at the Historic Black Knight Municipal Park will remain open this summer.