Recreation planning and financing failure in Philadelphia: 11 of 12 public swimming pools have closed

Because of the provision of parks and recreation facilities by a variety of government entities as well as the private sector, and the same with public transportation, parking, cultural resources and the arts ("What would be a "Transformational Projects Action Plan" for DC's cultural ecosystem," "Downtown Edmonton cultural facilities development as an example of "Transformational Projects Action Planning""), libraries ("Neighborhood libraries as nodes in a neighborhood and city-wide network of cultural assets"), etc., I have become enamored with the idea that "master planning" by government agencies should cover the entire sector of responsibility, including other government agencies as well as private sector entities.

In DC, this matters because the National Park Service provides 80% of the parks facilities in the city, complemented by some other government agencies (e.g., the USDA's National Arboretum, the Capitol Botanic Garden, etc.  But also because various private and nonprofit organizations provide access to facilities too.  It's complicated by the fact that the city parks department doesn't want to take on new responsibilities, so it outsources new facilities to nonprofits.

(And because in DC area transit there are competing interests and agencies and they don't work together very well. "The answer is: Create a single multi-state/regional multi-modal transit planning, management, and operations authority association.")

But also schools.  Schools have playgrounds and other facilities which may or may not be open to the public.  In Baltimore County, for close to 70 years there has been an MOU between the Recreation Department and the Schools, where Recreation invests in school facilities like gyms and auditoriums, creating larger facilities that also serve the general public.  A few other places do this, but not at the scale of Baltimore County.

In thinking about what I write about:  A third is best practice.  A third is gaps and insights--I joke I might be a bad planner but I am great at gap analysis.  (This past few weeks I have been on fire in identifying and writing about gaps in public and private writings.)  And the last third is about worst practice and system and leadership failure.  

The Philadelphia Inquirer has an article on the latter, "Philly’s indoor pools have become ‘a travesty’ after decades of disrepair and neglect," about how 11 of 12 public indoor pools are closed because of facility failure--from 2004 to 2019.  

I think this is complicated by the fact that some are in schools, and some are Department of Recreation.  And by the financial problems of the Philadelphia government, which affect the school system in many ways, and the parks system too, although it has the benefit of being able to raise money philanthropically.

Although the city is still committed to public outdoor pools.  It has more than 60.  But even they are closed before the end of August, and "summer heat" tends to persist long into September.

Philadelphia is not the only city with this problem.  Ten or so years ago, Baltimore closed most of its recreation centers because of lack of funds, hoping underfunded community organizations could step in and fill the breach.

See "The real lesson from Flint Michigan is about municipal finance."

The PI article discusses this in terms of (1) equity, because some private indoor pool facilities are still open, for a fee, (2) how knowing how to swim reduces the likelihood of drowning by 88%, (3) the value to young people from participating in athletics, (4) job opportunities for people who learn how to lifeguard, etc.

One issue is money.  But I think another is failure to coordinate between the Schools and Recreation agencies, and not having an MOU like Baltimore County.  Also in not funding "civic engagement" and capacity building to help third party nonprofits raise money and support for indoor swimming.

There is a Friends of Philly Aquatics, but obviously they aren't a significant player.  

The PI also reported on the lack of recreation facilities for the disabled, illustrating that these planning and facility operation failures go beyond indoor swimming ("Will the closing of Philadelphia’s only rec center for people with disabilities lead to lasting inclusion? ").

It's amazing to me that a city can actively destroy their public assets like these with few repercussions.  (Then again corporations do it too.  Eg Safeway destroyed supermarket chains it bought in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Texas.  AT&T destroyed the media assets of Time Warner.  Etc.)

In my naivete, I believe that robust master planning is one of the solutions.  But vision is one thing, although sure, it's mostly lacking.  Money is another.