Date:

August 2, 2002

For More Information Contact:

Diane Gonzolas, Citizen Information Center, 441-7831
Lynn Johnson, Parks and Recreation Director, 441-8265
Parks and Rec. Foundation/Parks and Rec. Advisory Board:
    Mary Arth, 489-1301; Mike Seacrest, 488-2137

Lincoln Mayor Don Wesely today congratulated donors to the "Beat the Heat" campaign of the Parks and Recreation Foundation for raising funds to keep two city pools - Belmont and Meadow Heights – open through August 18. The two pools were scheduled to close August 4 due to City budget cuts. Belmont and Meadow Heights are open from 1 to 6 p.m. daily. The "Beat the Heat" campaign is also providing transportation for families from the Air Park Recreation Center to the Belmont pool beginning August 5.

"Lincoln is a community that makes children a priority, and the ‘Beat the Heat’ campaign was successful because we care about our kids," said Mayor Wesely. "Because of the donors’ generosity, we are able to do something the City budget did not allow – keep two more pools open for a full season."

Major donors to "Beat the Heat" included the Downtown Optimists Club, $4,000; Time Warner Cable, $2,500; the Parks and Recreation Foundation, $1,000; and the Northeast Kiwanis Club, $1,000. Individual donations to the campaign averaged about $60.

An earlier neighborhood campaign raised the money needed to maintain evening hours at Irvingdale pool and keep it open through August 18. Irvingdale will remain open from 1 to 7:30 p.m. weekdays and from 1 to 6 p.m. weekends through August 18.

Air Park, Ballard, and Kuklin pools will remain open through Sunday, August 4. Because the Air Park Pool is a long distance from any other public pool, the "Beat the Heat" campaign also raised funding for the Parks and Recreation Department to offer free transportation from the Air Park Recreation Center to the Belmont Pool Monday through Friday from August 6 through 18. Families must sign up in advance at the Air Park pool through Sunday or at the Recreation Center, 3720 Northwest 46th Street. Forty spaces are available in three vans, which will leave the Air Park Recreation Center about 12:45 p.m. and return about 3:30 p.m. While transportation is free, participants will need to pay the swimming fee or use their passes. Children age six must be accompanied by someone age 16 or older. Children under age six must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and bring their own approved safety seat.

Schedules at the city’s other public pools are:

• Highlands, Eden and University Place: open from 1 to 8 p.m. weekdays and 1 to 6 p.m. weekends through August 18.

• Star City Shores: open from 12:30 to 8 p.m. every day through August 18.

• Woods: open from 1 to 6 p.m. every day through August 18. After August 18, Woods Pool will be open from 1 to 5 p.m. weekends through Labor Day, September 2. This is the third year of late season weekend swimming at Woods.