City pools open for summer

Children playing outside, baseball games, picnics and the hot sunny weather all make it feel like summer. For many, there is only one thing missing: swimming pools.\nBryan Park Pool and Mills Pool will open to the public 11 a.m. Friday, courtesy of the City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department. According to the City of Bloomington Web site, Bryan Park Pool will be charging $2.50 for adults and $2 for children 17 and under; Mills Pool will charge $2 for adults and $1.50 for children 17 and under. Both pools offer the options of daily entrance fees or passes for multiple visits.\nRob Gilchrist, the Parks and Recreation Department’s aquatic supervisor, said each pool offers its own variety of special features and programs, which include water basketball at Mills Pool and water slides at Bryan Park Pool.\n“There are a lot of different things,” Gilchrist said.\nThe prices are slightly more expensive for Bryan Park, because it is a larger facility, Gilchrist said, but the pools are a community service, and therefore the fees are used strictly for operating purposes. For an additional fee of $2, the Bryan Park Pool also offers its patrons a day of unlimited access to its water slides, the “Channelblaster” and “Bladerunner.”\nGilchrist said the pools will also be offering swimming lessons throughout the summer. The classes vary, from 6-month-olds in the parent-child water lessons, to the higher levels with students ranging from 12 to 14 years old. Three $40, two-week sessions will be offered by Bryan Park, running Monday through Thursday, June 4 through July 27. Mills Pool will offer two $40, six-week sessions that will run Saturdays from June 9 through July 28.\nThe pools also offer special prices for groups and are available to be rented out for private parties after closing, and at an hourly rate that varies depending on which facility is being used, according to the City of Bloomington Web site.\nMills Pool, 1100 W. 14th St., and Bryan Park Pool, 1100 S. Woodlawn Ave., will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. throughout the summer season.