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A Refreshing Change

Tribune Photo by JIM REED

Kids pour into the cold waters of the pool at the opening of the Cyrus Greene swimming pool.

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By KATHY STEELE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 14, 2008

EAST TAMPA - The more-than-three-year wait is over.

With a tweet of a whistle from Mayor Pam Iorio, the remodeled pool at Cyrus Greene Park reopened this week at 2101 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

About 130 children took the plunge following opening ceremonies, which included remarks from Iorio and synchronized swimming performances.

The city's pool makeover cost about $1.5 million. It includes an accessibility ramp for the disabled; diving blocks; six swim lanes; a water slide; and a splash pad with three water drops, floor sprays and two rain arches.

Kennedy Mack, 9, came up for air to adjust his goggles.

"I like that it's cold," he said. "And you can play real fun."

Last summer, the city pool at Sulphur Springs was 12-year-old Allexius Griffin's option to beat the heat. Because Cyrus Greene Park is closer to home, she can enjoy the pool and the community center's summer programs.

And, she said, "I like swimming in deep water."

The park's community center opened in 2006, replacing one demolished in 2001, when the College Hill and Ponce de Leon public housing complexes were torn down. In their stead, the Tampa Housing Authority built Belmont Heights Estates, a mix of market-rate and subsidized housing along North 22nd Street and Lake Avenue.

For some adults, the new pool brings memories of the old one.

"My sister and I won a dance contest here hula-hooping," Denise Meteye James said. "I can't wait to bring my grandkids over here."

City Councilwoman Gwen Miller took adult swimming lessons at the old pool, and her children learned to swim there.

Her phone rang off the hook some days during the long wait for the modernized pool's completion.

"You don't know how many calls I got about this pool," Miller said in her opening remarks Tuesday. "'How long is it going to be?' 'When can I bring my kids over?'"

Construction brought challenges. A city sign posted on-site lists December 2007 as the completion goal.

But the first contractor went bankrupt, and there were environmental issues at the former landfill site, said Karen Palus, director of the city's Parks and Recreation Department.

"You have a lot more regulations and requirements to meet," she said.

Iorio touted the pool as one more addition to the Parks and Recreation Department's swim program. In a state packed with beaches and swimming pools, she said, "it is so important that children know how to swim. And maybe one day we'll have an Olympic swimmer from East Tampa. You never know."

Pool hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. For information, call (813) 242-5350.

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 259-7652 or ksteele@tampatrib.com.

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