Vanderburgh Commissioners Vote to Close Burdette Pool for 2020
The Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday morning to keep the Burdette Park Aquatic Center closed for the 2020 summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The meeting agenda simply noted "Burdette Park" among other "Action Items" the Board would be discussing in today's meeting, but did not specify exactly what would be discussed. The motion to not open the pool was presented to the three-member board by Board President Jeff Hatfield. The discussion can be heard starting just before the 21-minute mark of the video below.
President Hatfield cited a number of reasons for keeping the pool closed, namely the extreme difficulty the staff would have in making sure visitors practiced the CDC's recommended social distancing guidelines. Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave echoed the sentiment saying Park Director, Gerald Grannan, told her the pool can draw an estimated number of 1,100 visitors at any given time, and that Governor Holcomb's "Back on Track" plan for the state doesn't allow for gatherings of more than 250 people until July 4th.
Following Musgraves' comment, Commissioner Ben Shoulders noted most of the lifeguards the Aquatic Center employs are high school students, then mentioned July 4th being roughly a month before the school year starts up in early August. He paused, then announced he was in favor of keeping it closed as well for the safety of potential guests and employees. He did not elaborate on his thought about the amount of time the pool would be open in the event it did open on July 4th.
After all members were given a chance to comment, they each cast their official vote with all three voting, "Yes" to keeping the Aquatic Center closed for the summer.