LONGVIEW, Texas — The Longview Swim Center is set to open June 6. However, there is a new concern as the city prepares to open the pool: A lack of lifeuard.
“Typically we don't start our outdoor pool season until the week after Memorial Day, which would be this coming Saturday. However, we're having to delay that until June 6," Longview Parks and Recreation Director Scott Caron said. "The primary reason for that is because of the need for hiring and training, and then getting all of our lifeguard staff oriented to our facilities,”
Due to COVID-19 restrictions that began in March, the city of Longview has not been able to train a full staff of lifeguards.
“This year, we're about two months behind," Caron said. "So we're trying to do about two and a half months’ worth of work in about two weeks."
Caron says they are working to get their staff trained, but the shortages require them to restrict their pool openings to just the Longview Swim Center.
Caron stresses that there will be strict public health guidelines at the pool when it opens next month.
“We'll have the noon to 2:00 p.m. session, we’ll close for an hour. And then we'll have a 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. session, again allowing for people to come in use the facility. And then once they leave, we can sanitize the facility during the interim, and then start it back up for a whole different crew of people,” Caron said.
The city expects the earliest they will have enough lifeguards to open another swim location will be June 20.
To apply to be a city of Longview lifeguard you can head to the city of Longview website.