Buffalo public pools open July 1
Buffalo public pools open Thursday for the summer season. LaSalle Park’s Centennial Pool reopens after seven years with a $2.6million dollar facility. YNN’s Nicki Mayo reports public works officials and parents are excited to have a safe place for kids to cool off this summer.
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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- “I’m 31 years old. I haven’t seen this pool open since I was a little girl,” said Buffalo’s Stephanie Sikes. Today the Lower West Side mother has seven little kids of her own and they can’t wait to jump into the newly renovated Centennial Pool.
“Because it’s going to be so hot in the summer and I want to get wet. It’s so cold and I’ll feel cool,” said Buffalo resident Niquole Carnavon.
“A lot of back yards aren’t big enough for pools. A lot of landlords don’t allow you to have pools. So not having a pool in the area makes it hard on the little kids,” said Sikes.
Centennial Pool makes a comeback this summer with a $2.6million dollar facility which includes a wheelchair ramp and motion sensors to detect intruders after hours.
Centennial Pool in LaSalle Park has been closed for the last seven years. It’s one of eight public pools and 11 splash pads opening Thursday at Queen City parks. They include: Allison, Houghton, JFK, Kensington, Masten, Riverside and ShoShone. Cazenovia and Lovejoy indoor pools are open year round.
“The only place that you can legally in the City of Buffalo are places with designated lifeguards and those are the pools,” said Buffalo Public Works Deputy Commissioner Andrew Rabb.
That’s a message South Buffalo’s Tammy Torres hopes parents relay to their kids.
“We have to try and make sure that they have the option to be safe,” said Torres.
Her 17-year-old son Gary Ramos died after being pulled from the Buffalo River where he and his friends were swimming in May. Memorial Day 16-year old DiQuann Warren drowned playing with friends near Squaw Island.
Torres hopes with the pools opening, no other parent will have to endure the pain of losing a child.
“My son told me that morning, mom I’m a good swimmer. You don’t know. And I never saw him again,” said Torres.