Neighbors rally to reopen Sulphur Springs Pool, closed since November 2023

Sulphur Springs Pool still closed

FOX 13's Jennifer Kveglis shares why a vital Sulphur Springs asset remains hanging in the balance as neighbors push to reopen the community pool.

TAMPA - The Sulphur Springs Pool originally opened in 2000. Neighbors say it was a community asset that offered summer camps, swim lessons, and senior activities.

In November 2023, City of Tampa crews performing routine maintenance, drained the pool and discovered that the springs it was built on were leaking into it. Since then, the pool has been closed indefinitely.

A local mom, Angel Shackleford, said, "It was a place to go not just for summer but just periodically. They learned how to swim here. They dove in the water. They were scared to take the swimming test so that you can go to the deep end." Her 18-year-old daughter, Lovelee LeCount, has attended the pool up to 5 days a week since she was 6.

Another local mom, Megan Berkstresser, said it's been disheartening driving by the pool day after day without a timeline of repairs from the city.

What they're saying:

"When I drive by the pool, it sad. It's heartbreaking because it's just kind of forgotten. It's fallen apart. My daughter gets sad when we look at the little frog and there's no water slide anymore," she said.

She created a petition that's garnered more than 1,200 signatures.

"We feel like this part of town deserves to have a community resource like a pool, and so we are eager to get updates and figure out what the next steps are," she explained.

Then, in June of last year, retired resident Susan Elbare created the ‘Save The Sulphur Springs Pool Committee.’ She said, "We actually meet with Parks and Recreation every three or four months, and they update us on what's happening to the pool."

Elbare said she learned fiscal budget approvals and last year's hurricanes caused the setback.

"It is our understanding that the pool will be reopened. There is enough money in the fiscal budget to do the repairs, starting with the seawall, which is the major one, and then working on the repair of the actual pool," she explained.

Elbare said boardwalk repairs would follow. She said, "It is our understanding that a contract will be in the works within the next couple of weeks."

A City of Tampa spokesperson said the pool remains closed because it is a safety hazard. Crews are analyzing if it's feasible to repair the site in time for summer of next year.