Milwaukee County Parks kicks off its 2023 pool season on Saturday, May 27 with the opening of the Cool Waters Aquatic Park in West Allis.
The Schulz Aquatic Center at Lincoln Park will open Saturday, June 10 and the two deep well outdoor pools – at Sheridan and Wilson Parks – follow on Saturday, June 17.
Also on June 17, the 16 community wading pools and eight splash pads open for the season, which ends Aug. 13.
Closing dates for the pools and aquatic centers have not been announced.
Find complete details on pool hours, fees, addresses and more at MKEswim.com.
Milwaukee Recreation also operates swimming pools and wading pools and you can find info on these City of Milwaukee pools here and the wading pools here.
Find information on the Tosa Pool at Hoyt Park, which opens on Saturday, May 27, here.
"We're excited to be able to open our premiere aquatic centers and more splash pads and wading pools compared to our 2022 season," said County Parks Executive Director Guy Smith.
"This will give our community more access to cool off at our Milwaukee County Park facilities this summer."
County beaches at Doctors Park, Bender Park Beach, Grant Park and Bradford Beach are open for the season but are not staffed with lifeguards. McKinley Beach – closed in 2020 due to dangerous water conditions – remains closed and awaiting repairs.
A shortage of lifeguards remains a problem, but the County says that it has been working to add staff, “with a focus on recruitment and retention,” via increased hourly wages and summer bonuses.
The hourly pay for lifeguards this year starts at $16.79.
Those efforts, say the County Parks, have led to an 15 percent increase in the number of lifeguards over 2022.
The County Parks continues its efforts to hire more lifeguards with a hiring event Tuesday, May 23-Thursday, May 25, 5-7 p.m., at Pulaski Indoor Pool. Applicants must participate in the training sessions each day and pass a test on Saturday, May 27 at 8 a.m.
Also on May 27, from 10 a.m. until noon, an open house hiring event for aquatics admissions, concessions, and park workers will be held at Cool Waters.
"As a city bordered by water, we have an absolute responsibility to ensure residents have equitable access to quality pools and aquatics facilities, and above all the ability to learn to swim and feel safe around water,” said Rebecca Stoner, executive director of Milwaukee Parks Foundation.
“We are proud to partner with Milwaukee County Parks on this front and excited to see progress being made."
The foundation accepts donations in support of the parks and their aquatics facilities. Find out more at mkeparksfoundation.org.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
