City prepping pools for Monday opening

HARLINGEN — It’s hot enough to jump into the pool.

But everyone’s going to have to wait a little while longer.

On Monday, the city will open its outdoor swimming pools along with its splash pad.

“It’s going to be a hot summer so we have several different places to cool off,” city spokeswoman Irma Garza said yesterday.

The city’s outdoor pools are located at Victor Park and Lon C. Hill Park, which is also home to its splash pad.

Pendleton Park features the city’s indoor pool, open year-round.

“We have several pools to choose from if they want classes or just hang out at the pool,” Garza said.

To prepare residents for summer, the city is offering everything from Agua Zumba classes and water aerobics to competition swimming lessons.

For weeks, crews have worked to prepare residents for a big summer.

At Victor Park, the city will unveil improvements.

For two weeks, crews worked to install a new filtration system and a larger pump.

The $80,000 project funded through the Community Development Block Grant program means better water, Javier Mendez, the city’s parks director, said.

“We did a complete makeover,” Mendez said. “We’ve got a state-of-the-art filtration system. It’s more efficient. It will increase the circulation of the water. It makes the water cleaner.”

At Lon C. Hill Park, the city’s splash pad is ready to unleash more robust gushes of water.

During the off-season, crews moved the splash pad’s pump closer to its many water features.

“You have more water coming out of the fixtures,” Mendez said.