Everybody Into Weehawken Pool (Including Hoboken Residents): Hours Finalized
It's almost Memorial Day 2023. What's the good word about the state-funded Weehawken pool, and when will it be open to pool-less Hoboken? Hoboken, New Jersey, is set to open its sprawling Weehawken Pool this weekend, with residents invited to enjoy the low-cost lessons offered. The city has announced plans to use the pool in development proposals in 2020 and in 2022, and then again in the coming months. A Hoboken mom started a petition months ago, which had garnered more than 400 signatures as of last month, asking the city to move forward with a pool project now. Hoboken council candidate Ian Rintel has proposed a shuttle to shuttle residents back to Hoboken to use Union City pools throughout the summer. Mayor Ravi Bhalla acknowledged the need for a pool six years ago in his recreation plan when he ran for mayor.
Published : 11 months ago by Caren Lissner in
But on the eve of Memorial Day weekend, word came throughout the land (from Township Manager Gio Ahmad): The pool will open this weekend, and New Jersey residents are invited.
Weehawken's sprawling complex is supposed to be open to other towns, because the pool was partly built with state Green Acres funding.
At the town's May 10 Township Council meeting, they were scheduled to vote on a contract with the Weehawken Swim Association to offer low-cost lessons to residents, as they did last year. And this week — on Wednesday, May 24 — the council was set to vote to introduce Ordinance 07-2023, Establishing Fees for WWP Pool Complex.
Thursday night, the town website was finally updated with a section for Weehawken Pool 2023, although it directed viewers to dates and information from 2022. By the time you read this, it may have been updated.
Meanwhile, Hoboken residents continue to ask when their town will make good on a decades-old promise to build a pool. The city has proudly announced that a pool could be part of development proposals in 2020 and in 2022, and then again just last month.
A Hoboken mom started a petition months ago, which had garnered more than 400 signatures as of last month, asking the city to move forward with a pool project now, rather than waiting for a development complex. She also noted, "As two educators from NJ noted in a NJ.com op-ed recently, urban areas need their own community pools and low-cost swimming lessons to save lives. Weehawken now has a fantastic pool complex and offers low-cost lessons."
Hoboken council candidate Ian Rintel, who runs Play! Hoboken in town, has floated an idea that may help families while they wait for a development complex. "I'd like to see Hoboken coordinate with both Weehawken and Union City to run 'The Hop' as a shuttle for Hoboken residents to make use of the new Weehawken pool and Firefighter Memorial Park throughout the summer," Rintel said, referring to free Union City pools that are open to Hudson County residents. The Firefighter complex, near the top of the 14th Street Viaduct, has both an Olympic-size pool and a splash area for kids, but isn't a quick walk.
"The shuttle can carry Union City and Weehawken residents back to Hoboken to take advantage of our restaurants, shops, park and waterfront," Rintel added. "I'm not sure if the shuttle should be a few dollars per rider or free, I'd leave it for others to decide." Samantha, the mom who started the petition, said, "The pool is an option in every land proposal, which is great, but also could result in always thinking another location will be better and it not coming to pass."
Last year, Mayor Ravi Bhalla noted last year that Hoboken residents can register to use the Stevens Institute of Technology pool in summer, for a fee.
Bhalla acknowledged the need for a pool six years ago in his recreation plan when he ran for mayor.
"Advocacy for Hobokenites to gain access to Weehawken's facility, while much appreciated, pulls focus from addressing our core need for a pool," Samantha said in the petition.