First, I would like to discuss the major differences we noticed between Town of Salina pools/parks and the three city pools/parks we visited today. One of the things I loved about the city ones is that you can just walk in! No need to give them and cash, your name or ID. They just do a tally of however many people are coming in. You do have to take a shower before you go in, which I suppose is a good thing. You are welcome to take your belonging with you, unlike the Salina pools where you had to leave them in a designated area. There are a lot more children in these pools. My guess is that because not as many people have their own private pools to utilize.
My least favorite part is that you had to take a swimming test in order to be allowed in the deep end of the pool. Speaking of deep, we are talking deep! The first one we went to today was a bit over 10 feet deep, the second 11 and the third 12! I suppose I understand why they make people take these tests. No fear though. As long as you can swim to one end of the pool and then back (in a designated lap lane section of the pool), you get a black striped wrist band labeled VIP. You are allowed to take a break when you get to the end (half-way through) but your feet may not touch the ground while swimming. It is worth mentioning that we did not take off our band and we were able to use the same one for all three pools even though the lifeguard told we we'd have to take the test each and every time we go to a city pool.
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| The band you get after passing the swim test (man, I have hairy arms!) |
There was also a police officer/car at 2 of the 3 pools we visited today. Safety first, I guess..
Without further adieu, let's get to it!
The first pool/park we visited was Lincoln Park. More Information
It was a bit hard to locate the pool since I had never been there before. It was easy to drive by it. I really loved the way this park is designed and winter time when all the leaves fall you get a glamorous view of our fair city for the top. Once you turn into the park and go up the hill, there is a little parking area to you left. You have to park there and walk down the steps to the playground. The pool is just to the right of it.
The pool is 82 feet (or 25 meters) long and is divided into 3 sections - laps only, deep end (12 feet!) and shallow end.
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| The view of the playground from the top (once you park) |
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| The view from the bottom as you are walking back up to where you parked |
Pros:
- Beautiful park/pool/play area. I really loved the outlay of it
- Free to get it
- Natural shade to the right when you walk in
- You can take your stuff with you where-ever you go
- There was a lady blasting rock and roll with her blue tooth speaker. This could also be a con if you find that annoying but the lifeguards did not seem to mind and neither did the patrons
- Small-ish pool
- Not too crowded
- Having to take a shower (also a con?) Some people are filthy, I suppose and might use the pool to take their daily/weekly/monthly bath..?
Cons:
- Have to take a swim test to be let into the deep section
- Not allowed to jump in from the sides of the deep section. Only allowed to do so from the front. Not sure about this silly rule but OK. We broke the rule not knowing it and were told by the lifeguard about it after the fact
- There was some candy wrapper and other small debris in the water and along the edge of the concrete when you walked in.
- Having to shower
- Allowing people to play their own music
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| View of the pool when you walk in |
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| View of the playground |
A lot of the pros and cons can also be sated for the other two parks/pools we visited so I will not be repeating myself.
Stop # 2 was Schiller Park also located on the North Side and only 1 mile away! I had no idea it was that close. It took me way back. When we first came to this great country, we lived on the north side and used to frequent this pool. I remembered the big water slide is used to have. We had a chance to ask one of the lifeguards what happened to it and he told us that it was taken apart since it needed extensive repair and it would have cost the city too much month to repair. It is a real bummer! I used to love that pool for that reason but I love it even more after my visit today..want to find out why..read on!
Check out the link for more information
There was plenty of parking and the pool was not hard to find. At the highest point of the park you can get a great view of Downtown Syracuse! There was a police car parked right near the front entrance of the pool. The pool is TWICE as big as the one in Lincoln Park! It is 164 feet (80 meters) by 25 yards wide! I thought it was as big as an Olympic pool and I was right! (Google said so..). According to the City of Syracuse website, the capacity is 485 bathers! Wowza! I wonder if it matters if they are children or adults.
It had the same setup as the previous pool - lap lane, deep end, shallow end. Again it is 12 feet deep!
Pros:
- I felt safe since there was an city police officer on site (also a con?)
- Pool was HUGE and no-where near capacity
- Lifeguards were laid back - we were allowed to go in without taking the test again. They might have assumed we already took the test there..
- Beautiful park/pool/view of the city
Cons:
- Was the police presence necessary? He was siting near the front staring at his smart phone..
- No water slide! This was the best part about this pool
- Having to take the water test in such a HUGE pool. I am not an Olympic swimmer. Upon closer inspection we saw that they only make people swim the entire 164 feet and then back just a little. Still....
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| View once you park and are walking to the pool |
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| Pool was so big I had to take 3 photos!! |
The last pool we visited today was Burnet Park. It is closely located to my in-laws who live on Tipp Hill. We are also buying a house near-by so I suppose this will be a frequent hang out spot for me in the near future. I am fond of this park for several reasons. First, I love the zoo! Second, the design of the park of unique. Third, we go sledding there in the winter (at the golf course!).
Here is more info on the park
According to the City of Syracuse website this pool is just as long as the Schiller Park one (50 meters!) It can accommodate 492 bathers.
Pros:
- Beautiful park/pool
- Huge pool with a ton of space
- Laid back lifeguards (also a con)
Cons:
- Crowded! Some kids kept splashing us with water since there were not too away of their surrounds and the fact that the lifeguards were so laid back did not help
- No natural shade
By far I came up with the least amount of pros and cons for this one so if people reading this would like to add to my list, please do. I am sure that this is because I am biased and really like this park. You would think I'd come up with more pros though.
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| View from after you park and are walking towards pool |
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| View as soon as you walk into the pool area |
Until next time...Stay Cool Syracuse!
