Lifeguard instructor Abby Dulac gives thumbs-up Thursday after a successful training rescue exercise at the Kennedy Park pool in downtown Lewiston. Lifeguards are spending the day training in anticipation of opening day Monday. From left: Yussuf Guhat, Flavia Dozolo, Autumn Larson, Dulac, Maya Gunther and Sophia Turgeon, the aquatics director. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
LEWISTON — It is almost swim time in Lewiston.
After a short delay, the Kennedy Park pool is set to open for the season Monday.
According to Nicole Welch, Lewiston’s recreation director, the pool was initially slated to open June 25, but the department has been finishing up staff training.
The public pool will be open from noon to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday between July 1 and Aug. 17. The pool is free for Lewiston residents, but the city asks users to register online to streamline the process for signing waivers, providing emergency contacts and for notifications about pool updates.
Residents can register on the city’s website or check in at a table before going into the facility on Park Street. Visitors who live outside Lewiston are asked to make a one-time $10 donation toward pool operations.
While the weather has remained humid, temperatures in Lewiston have dipped back into the high 70s following June’s short stretch of sweltering heat. But it appears the pool will open just in time for a forecasted return of temperatures in the high 80’s late next week.
The pool and splash pad has long been a popular feature in Lewiston’s downtown, but has at times dealt with budgeting and staffing concerns, along with a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19.
Aquatics Director Sophia Turgeon, lower left, pulls lifeguard Autumn Larson to lifeguard Maya Gunther on Thursday during a training rescue exercise at the Kennedy Park pool in downtown Lewiston. Lifeguards are spending the day training in anticipation of opening day Monday. Larson, a 2023 graduate of Edward Little High School in Auburn, is role playing during the exercise. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Welch said the hiring process for this season “has been typical of a regular year.” The pool remained closed in 2020 and 2021, with officials also deciding to ax the 2021 season because of a lack of staffing.
The pool has remained free for Lewiston residents following a brief effort in 2017 to charge users a small fee. Following public outcry, a number of Lewiston business owners and residents donated enough money to keep the pool free in 2017, but in the years following the annual pool costs have been included in the city budget.
Operational costs for the pool for fiscal 2025 are estimated at $78,000.
Mayor Carl Sheline said Thursday that he’s excited to see the pool open for the season.
“The Kennedy Park pool is a valuable city resource for our youth and I appreciate our Recreation Department pulling out the stops this year to make it operational,” he said.
The Recreation Department’s website states that users must register every person in their family who will be visiting the pool.
Welch said pool memberships also allow the Recreation Department to “track pool use, educate our visitors on pool safety, and develop more pool opportunities in the future.”
The pool typically opens the last week of June. Last year, the pool opened on June 27.
For more information, call the Recreation office at 207-513-3005 or go to lewistonrecreation.com.
Aquatics Director Sophia Turgeon, center, shares a laugh Thursday with lifeguard Flavia Dozolo, left, and lifeguard instructor Abby Dulac during training exercises at the Kennedy Park pool in downtown Lewiston. Lifeguards are spending the day training in anticipation of opening day Monday. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
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