Hopkins Park, Chamberlain Park pools in DeKalb, Genoa open for summer

Since February, Chloe Domroes, 7, of DeKalb has been counting down the days until DeKalb’s Hopkins Park Pool opens for the season.

And lucky for the Founders Elementary School student, the clouds cleared and the temperatures warmed up Saturday, just in time for the pool’s opening day.

“I love to go down the slides because it’s so fun,” she said. “I’ve been very excited about coming to the pool. There’s a lot to do here.”

Many DeKalb residents took advantage of the sunshine to visit the pool as lifeguards and employees welcomed folks for the first time for the 2017 season.

The pool’s slides looked fresh after getting refinished and a new coat of paint during the offseason, and the concession stand, which previously had been contracted out to a private company, is now run by the DeKalb Park District, seasonal aquatics supervisor Jackie Owensby said.

“Our guards spent all day Friday practicing emergency drills in the rain. We’re ready for the season,” she said. “Today signals the beginning of summer. It’s an iconic celebration and family tradition for many people. A lot of people come on opening weekend.”

Emily Cook, a second-year lifeguard at the pool, said that many people who grew up in the area often return with their children on opening day.

“Opening weekend is so much fun. The kids are excited to be out of school, and this is a great place for them to hang out with their friends during the summer,” said Cook, who graduated from Sycamore High School and now attends Benedictine University.

For DeKalb resident Emily Larson, visiting the pool on opening day has been a family tradition since she was a child. Now she brings her two young sons every year to kick off the summer.

“I’ve been coming here since I was about 8, and I want my kids to do the same thing,” she said. “They’ve been talking about the pool every time we drive by, even in January. This week was especially exciting for them.”

Brian Andrus of DeKalb has two young children who knew it was opening day, and they asked him to bring them to the pool.

“They just couldn’t wait. They love it here,” Andrus said of his son, Christopher, 8, and daughter, Addison, 5. “Even if it was 50 degrees outside, they’d still want to come. They’ve been asking all week to come today.”

Bryan Chesser, 10, had been playing outside all morning, so he was excited to go to the pool in the afternoon.

“Instead of being hot all day, you can just go to the pool,” said the soon-to-be Founders Elementary fifth-grader. “We wanted to come because it just opened. I was excited to jump off the diving boards. That’s my favorite.”

Amanda Bauer of DeKalb surprised her three kids with a trip to the pool. She said that after they finished their T-ball game, she told them where they were going.

“They’ve been waiting since February, and I promised them a while ago we’d go on the first day,” she said. “This is the start of the summer, and we’ll be here all the time. I’m glad it was nice enough today for us to sneak in a quick trip.”

Genoa’s Chamberlain Park Pool also opened this weekend, and kids were excited to play on the pool’s slides and “toilet bowl.” Genoa Park District aquatics director Sandi Rease said the pool’s staff has been working hard to get the pool cleaned and ready to go.

“It’s important to keep [the facility] clean, and we’ve also been doing a lot of preseason training with our lifeguards,” she said. “Parents can walk in here knowing that their kids will be safe. We do everything we can to make sure people are having fun safely.”

The Sycamore Park District pool still is on track to open Friday after some minor delays related to offseason improvements. Staff worked over the holiday weekend to finish some of the necessary work, and they will continue to work throughout the week to make sure everything is ready for opening day, Sycamore Park District Executive Director Dan Gibble said.

“We’ve been making the pool more accessible to people with disabilities, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Most of the work has been related to that,” he said. “We have lifts to get people in and out of the pool, our showers and toilets are accessible. The locker room was painted, so it looks fresher. And we put in a new slide in the baby pool.”