Jackson park facilities, including pool, gradually opening

It’s been two months since Jackson suspended most parks and recreation activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, something Shane Anderson thought he’d never see.

“It was something I’ve never experienced in my 23 years here,” the Jackson parks and recreation director said. “I never imagined we’d ever have to shut everything down, but we did, and for good reason.”

But now that people have become more accustomed to social distancing and the number of new coronavirus cases in the area appears to have leveled off, Jackson is gradually starting to reopen its park facilities.

One of the most visible signs things are returning to normal — or at least somewhat normal — will be the opening of the Jackson Swimming Pool next week.

The pool is slated to open Monday, about two weeks later than it normally would have opened, and pool patrons will notice several steps are being taken to reduce the chances of spreading coronavirus.

“Three main things will be in place,” Anderson said. “Social distancing, increased signage and enhanced cleaning of everything.”

Pool hours will be the same as last year, 1 to 6 p.m. daily, but the Mondays through Saturdays admission fee for those age 5 and older will be $4 this year instead of last year’s $3 rate. Children age 4 and younger will still be admitted free as long as they are accompanied by an adult or responsible party paying full admission. Sundays will still be designated as family days with admission for those age 5 and older set at $1.50 each.

The pool normally has a capacity of 293, but to help maintain social distancing, attendance will be limited to no more than 147 people, or about 50% of capacity.

“We’re really going to be watching our social interaction between staff and customers and between staff and staff,” Anderson said. “We’ll have signs (about social distancing and other safety measures), we’ll have one way in and one way out, which will help us monitor the attendance, sneeze guards will be up and anywhere there’s people, we’ll have hand sanitizer.”

To help discourage people from congregating in the concessions area or the pool deck, the picnic tables and chairs have been removed.

“It’s going to be the way it was when the pool opened in ’76,” Anderson said. “We didn’t have chairs then. You brought your towel and sat on the concrete. We’re going to go back to that.”

Because of the coronavirus crisis, Anderson said the pool will be limiting its swimming lessons this season.

“We felt group lessons wouldn’t be a good idea, so we’re not going to do them this year, but we will have private lessons,” he said.

All the safety measures at the pool, he said, have been reviewed and approved by the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center to be certain they’re in line with COVID-19 safety guidelines.

As reported in the weekend Southeast Missourian, the Cape Splash Family Aquatic Center on North Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau is also set to open Monday, with various coronavirus safety measures in place. Playgrounds in Cape Girardeau’s parks have also reopened but the Central Municipal Pool behind the Terry W. Kitchen Junior High School will remain closed for the time being while it is repainted and undergoes some routine maintenance.

Meanwhile, back in Jackson, Anderson said the city’s baseball and softball fields have reopened for practice with youth leagues set to begin play June 15. Other park events’ such as the Rockin’ the Rock Garden and Municipal Band concert series, will resume this week and next with attendees and participants encouraged to observe social distancing and other safety measures.

Park playgrounds and basketball courts, however, remain closed for the time being.

“We don’t have an opening day for them,” he said, adding an opening date will be up to the Jackson Board of Aldermen.

Although many areas of Jackson City Park have been closed since early April, Anderson said the park was still well utilized.

“We found our walking trails started getting busier and we began having more people trying to fish. They weren’t very good at it, but they were trying to fish,” he said. “We had more families using the city park in the last three months than I’ve ever observed.”

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