May 20, 2020
To The Community of Bryan:
After weeks of deliberation, we feel it is in the best interest of the Bryan Community not to open Moore and East End Pools for the 2020 summer season due to the current Covid-19 situation. I assure you that this was not an easy decision; we spent an enormous amount of time talking with our staff, various health professionals, various parks and recreation professionals throughout the State of Ohio and looking through all the guidelines provided to us by the State of Ohio regarding reopening aquatic of facilities. At the end of the day we feel it is in the best interest of our staff, community and patrons to keep the pools closed.
Covid-19 has created a lot of difficult challenges for the Parks and Recreation Department’s day to day operations including how to safely operate both of our aquatic facilities. As we are sure most of you are aware, on Thursday, May 14, 2020, Governor DeWine and his team announced that public pools could reopen on May 26, 2020, by following the mandatory guidelines established in the Responsible Restart Ohio, Local and Public Pools and Aquatic Centers and the Center for Disease Control guidelines. Under the guidelines established by Governor DeWine’s team, the capacity of our pools would have changed. Also the social distancing rules in the water and on deck would have great impact on the ability to move in and around the facility and would have required additional monitoring. The increased demand on sanitization of all surfaces located at our pool facilities would be extremely cumbersome to our staff. Finally, the health and safety of our employees, typically local teenage kids, was paramount in our decision. Managing our pools within these guidelines that have been established was still a high risk and not in the best interest of our community and staff.
This decision was a painful one to make; our aquatic facilities are a place for the citizens of Bryan to enjoy throughout the summer months. Unfortunately, the risk associated with opening our aquatic facilities during this pandemic are not a risk we want to take! We apologize for the inconvenience this decision may cause, and we look forward to seeing everyone next year at Bryan Parks and Recreation Department Pools!
Sincerely,
Benjamin M. Dominique
City of Bryan, Director of Parks and Recreation