 |
| UPDATE: The pool is full of water! Day and Season Passes are selling, and the Pool Party on July 3rd was fun! |
 |
| The Beacon Pool drained, clean and being filled with fresh water. New black fencing has been installed. |
Rumors of the resurgence of the Beacon Pool at the Settlement Camp have been swirling for years, and even in the month of June 2015, the projected opening date of the pool, people were still asking: "Is the pool really opening?"
To find our own answers, we sent a camera crew out to the site one weekend, unannounced, to see if the pool was really on track. Note: the camera crew was myself and my sleeping son in his car seat, with Frisbee disk gamers barely noticing our unexpected activity near the course.
Over the years, various individuals tried to help it make a comeback with deflated attempts and membership price-points, so you can imagine everyone's skepticism at it really happening. However, we discovered a major clue that the pool was on track: new picnic benches, freshly cut and bolted, were lined up side by side, awaiting placement.
 |
| New picnic benches at the Beacon Pool to accommodate large crowds who can bring their own food. |
So I got on the phone with Mark Price, the City of Beacon's Recreation Director, and asked him my tough reporter question: "Is there any chance that the pool won't open?" Mark was giddy in his answer. "It's opening! On Monday, June 29th it will be open! We need to wait to drain the pool until closer to the open date, but we are replacing the fence and dusting everything off."
Beacon's pool has quite the courtyard wrapping around it and almost feels like you're at an English estate or in the woods in an Alice in Wonderland scene with strange creatures lurking under mossy stones. In fact, you may encounter a snake or two, as young teenagers have recalled to me from their early days of going to the pool in the summer and loving it. To add to the pastoral experience, The Green Teen Team has planted 200 sunflowers on the uphill side of the property, near the Maintenance Building.
 |
| The courtyard at the Beacon Pool immediately in front of the pool. |
The picture above is the courtyard immediately in front of the pool. There is another courtyard to the left of the pool, and all of that is available to the public to enjoy. You can bring your own food and drink, and Mark has dreams of hosting food trucks. In fact, Mark has given us permission to tell you that he has visions of a "juried showcase" of different food vendors, and to contact him if you're interested. Which is really exciting because the food scene in Beacon is so good!
 |
| Don't you want to stroll down this yard in English attire? Or play rugby or croquet? |
So why this year for the pool? Mark credits the healthy economy. "Municipal budgets have recovered, so purse strings got loser. As a country, things are coming back a bit." As noted by Mayor Casale in a recent press release, the opening of the pool is happening because of joint efforts by the City Council and other city departments working together.
 |
| A picture of the pool in Spring 2015...making us wonder if it would open. Weeks later, that murky water was gone, the pool cleaned, weeds picked, and fence was replaced. |
 |
| Lying under the trees, floating by on the water, this is your view when you look up at the sky, relaxed. |
Pool season passes are $50 for adults, $30 for children, and $100 for the family, with day passes available for $3 for adults and $2 for children and seniors. The registration form is here for download. The Beacon Pool is located at the Park at University Settlement Camp, 724 Wolcott Avenue. The pool itself is 140 feet by 50 feet and progresses in depth from 2 feet to 8 feet deep making it perfect for swimmers and water lovers of all ages. There will not be a lap lane, just a "have fun pool". On Friday, July 3rd, 2015 at 12:00 noon there will be a Big Splash Pool Opening Celebration. Take pictures of your fun times and share them with us on Instagram! Tag @alittlebeacon and use the hashtag #beaconnypool.
 |
| Keep your eyes peeled for the "Entrance" sign for the Beacon Pool on 9D! The entrance is just one dirt road in the middle of the woods. |
[UPDATED 7/6/15]
The Hours of the Beacon Pool are:MONDAY: CLOSED
TUESDAY: 12pm to 7pm
WEDNESDAY: 3pm to 7pm
THURSDAY: 3pm to 7pm
FRIDAY: 12pm to 7pm
SATURDAY: 12pm to 7pm
SUNDAY: 12pm to 7pm
PS: The title of this post was inspired in part by Dan Aymar-Blair.
Great article! Your example of taking action to find out answers to questions, is admirable. I greatly appreciate the fact that you chose to take initiative rather than allowing gossip to manifest into misinformation. Right to the source, and the person who has invested much more than "on the clock hours" into this epic event, Mark Price. It could not have happened without someone like him, believing in the project, believing in the public, and believing in the serendipity in life. His efforts went above and beyond to make this dream a reality. His positivity, resilience, determination, and deep appreciation of Beacon's history and landscape, is infinite. Every step of this undertaking was done thoughtfully, thoroughly, and above all else, humanely. Every creature, furry, scaly, generations old and newcomers, were rescued, handled with care, appreciated, and transported to an equally suitable home environment. I am humbled by Mark's deep connection with nature and wildlife. To watch him work as deadlines crept up, major physical overhaul on the pool, major landscaping work, cleaning out bathrooms himself, ordering supplies, supplies, supplies, scheduling the contractors, not to mention every other job he handles in the city (don't get me started because the list doesn't end) through all of this, every single frog, snake, mouse, spider, cricket and living creature that he came across, he personally caught, admired, and placed into a holding tank and walked it to a place that would be suitable and comfortable living for that particular species, at which time he would release it back to nature. Every single one. I can't put into words how admirable a quality that is, and how much it says about the person we are lucky to call our Recreation Director. He enlisted the help of our amazing crew of City workers, and together, they did it!
ReplyDeletewhat are the hours?
ReplyDeleteThere is now a public Beacon Pool Facebook group that is good to join, as they post hours and weather updates. https://www.facebook.com/groups/489743337847867/
ReplyDelete