Northland public water park runs as usual while south Kansas City’s struggles to open

Is the Bay Water Park in south Kansas City open for business or not?

Last Wednesday afternoon, with temperatures slowly inching toward a high of 92 degrees, the public water park at 7101 Longview Road was closed. Because of the humidity, it felt even warmer. And much to the dismay of area residents, the pool remained closed until the next day.

With the temperature pushing past 95 degrees, the pool unexpectedly and with little notice to the public, opened Thursday with minimal staff, reduced hours and some of its family-friendly attractions closed.

Who needs leisure pools and boogie boarding, anyway?

Another important question: Will the Bay remain open this weekend? At City Hall, that cannot be definitively answered.

“The Bay is open today,” Kansas Parks and Recreation Department’s Doug Schroeder wrote in an email Thursday. “The kiddie pool and recreational pool are the two bodies of water open. We are critically short staffed, but are doing everything we can to keep the facility open.”

It’s a different story north of the Missouri River. The public Springs Aquatic Center at 9400 North Congress was expected to open Friday, but awaits one final inspection. When it’s ready, it will operate with a full staff, a seven-day-a-week schedule and a full slate of offerings to cool off, including a lazy river and water slides.

The city-owned Bay Water Park is operated by the private Midwest Pool Management. Because of staff shortages, if just one Midwest worker calls in sick or requests a day off, the park could possibly close, according to Kansas City officials.

That discrepancy in staffing and the on-again, off-again business model isn’t even remotely fair to residents of south Kansas City. Cosmetic issues — a paint job — delayed Springs’ opening this season, not a dearth of employees.

Kansas City must address the inequities in how it operates its pools. The city needs to prioritize its resources and leadership to help keep the Bay open and staff it as equitably as Springs.

Few swimming options for urban core

Residents in other areas of Kansas City can swim without interruption. After a slight delay, Budd Park Pool in the Northeast area opened this week, as did the pool at Line Creek Community Center north of the river, city officials said.

But a swing through Kansas City’s urban core yielded few public swimming options.

The pools at Swope and Jarboe parks are closed for the season, according to the parks department. And at Brush Creek Community Center, the pool is closed because of a recurring leak, city officials said. Down the road at Grove Park Pool, workers were rushing to prepare the pool for its expected opening next week. The pool was closed last summer, said nearby neighbor Curtis Ray, 60.

Ray purchased a portable pool for his two young granddaughters but remembered a time when both learned how to swim at Grove Park. “It is good to have the pool open,” Ray said. “My grandbabies started swimming at 1, and now they both can swim. It’s a good pool to be in.”

On Saturday, the Ruskin Heights Homes Association plans to sponsor “Free Day at the Bay,” a season-opening promotion at the Bay Water Park.

If the pool shuts down over the weekend, how are families in the Ruskin/Hickman area of Kansas City supposed to cool off? Weekend forecasts are for temperatures in the mid-90s.

The water park is located in the City Council’s 6th District represented by Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McManus and at-large Councilwoman Andrea Bough. “Mayor Pro Tem McManus and I are both working on it,” Bough wrote in an email. “The Parks Department says there is a staffing shortage, but we are pushing to equitably staff the pools/water parks.”

Last summer, the Bay was open sporadically. And many families were unaware the pool suddenly opened this Thursday. “What does that say to the people of south Kansas City?” asked Missouri state Rep. Mark Sharp, a Democrat from the area. “It says, ‘You don’t matter.’”

The lack of recreational opportunities is troublesome for young people in south Kansas City, said RefugeKC church pastor D’Eric Fields. “At this point, there are very few options,” Fields said. Kids will look for “other alternatives to have fun. We need something positive and helpful.”

The good news is the Bay Water Park opened this week, officials said. But how long before the gates close again?

This story was originally published June 17, 2022 at 5:00 AM.