North Philadelphia pool reopens after 7 years, bringing relief to neighborhood: "It's been awesome"

Splash, after splash, after splash. Sights and sounds that haven't been heard at the Fletcher Amos Playground Pool in North Philadelphia since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Seven years," Stephon Bey, a lifeguard at the pool, said. "It's been closed for seven years."

All that time, a community was left wondering if they'd ever set foot in their pool again.

"It was pretty heart-wrenching," Danny Pendleton said.

"A community that's just been knocking on the door, knocking on the door like 'did you forget about us?'" Susan Slawson, the city's Parks & Rec Commissioner, said. "And here we are today."

Slawson was joined by Mayor Cherelle Parker and other leaders welcoming families back to the pool near 16th and Montgomery streets.

The pool was shut down years ago, with officials saying it needed a full plumbing replacement and deck reconstruction. For folks who grew up in the area, seeing kids back in the water here is a welcome sight.

"I swam in this pool when I was a kid," Pendleton said. "So it's great to see all additions being given to this community."

"We did not have access to a pool in my childhood," said Tallaya, who brought her 6-year-old daughter. "So to have my daughter experience it, to come back to my neighborhood where I'm from, and experience the pool, fun every day, it's been awesome."

Amos was one of three city pools that reopened this summer after extended closures that Parker visited on Friday. The 12th and Cambria pool was also closed for seven years, while the Ziehler Playground pool in Olney sat empty for five. Like Amos, officials say both needed extensive renovations.

Parker says the fixes at each pool were funded through the city's REBUILD Program.

"Five-hundred-million-dollars in improvements at more than 70 sites across the city, that were funded by the beverage tax," Parker said.

But the mayor's visits served a second purpose: to celebrate the people who keep these pools running every day, lifeguards.

"You are the muscle. You are the heartbeat. And you are most definitely the backbone of our summer," Parker said.

"Without these lifeguards, we actually have to restrict the number of people who can actually get into our pools," Slawson said.

Bey has been a lifeguard for 10 years, making him a veteran in a city that has often struggled to fill the role. For Bey, it's a no-brainer to keep coming back.

"It's for the community. It's here to help the kids stay out of trouble," Bey said.

This year, city officials say they have staffed 374 lifeguards, closely in line with the number they turned out last summer. Bey says he, himself, recruited at least 10 new lifeguards to join. And officials hope to get those numbers even higher by next summer.

"Next year, we want 400," Slawson said.