City manager: Swimming pool to reopen mid-July

Better late than never, apparently.

Tucumcari’s city manager announced during a city commission meeting Thursday the city’s municipal swimming pool would reopen next month and stay open into the fall.

The pool had been closed since 2019. It was shuttered for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it remained closed last year after severe leaks were found at the facility.

Paula Chacon said during her city manager’s report Thursday the pool would reopen during the third week of July. Her announcement brought a smattering of applause from people in the audience.

During a follow-up phone interview on Friday, Chacon clarified the pool’s reopening would be the week of July 17.

“We’re pushing hard for that,” she said.

Chacon acknowledged Thursday the pool’s opening would be later than the usual late May, but said the facility would remain open through September and possibly October if weather permits it.

Chacon said the pool had undergone testing of its plumbing, and its pump would be repaired in a few days. She said she was placing advertisements to hire lifeguards.

The city in January won a critical $216,803 state grant to repair the pool.

City workers and volunteers from Tucumcari High School helped clean the facility in mid-May.

Chacon had made reopening the pool a high-priority item since she was hired as city manager last August. Residents also repeatedly asked during city commission meetings to repair and reopen the facility.

Tucumcari City Pool was built in 1976 after the Metropolitan Park Bathhouse and Pool at Five Mile Park closed.

In the long term, city officials are looking to build a multi-use facility that eventually would house an indoor swimming pool, gymnasium and the senior citizen center.