Cranston residents demand Budlong Pool be repaired and reopened

"Cranstonians have spoken: we need an accessible, affordable place to cool off, exercise, and teach our kids to swim during our increasingly hot summers."

Over 70 Cranston residents gathered outside City Hall on Park Avenue on Monday to call on Cranston Mayor Kenneth Hopkins to repair and reopen Budlong Pool as soon as possible. During the press conference, a small group delivered a petition with around 2000 Cranston resident signatures asking that Mayor Hopkins put the community's needs first by fixing the pool without downsizing unless a third-party, highly qualified engineering firm produces findings that the pool cannot be repaired in a fiscally responsible manner.

Mayor Hopkins was not in his office when the petition was delivered. Cranston residents are encouraged to sign the petition here.

"Cranstonians have spoken: we need an accessible, affordable place to cool off, exercise, and teach our kids to swim during our increasingly hot summers," said Karen Rosenberg in a statement. Rosenberg chairs Cranston Forward, a progressive advocacy group supporting the effort to reopen Budlong Pool. "We are willing to work with the Mayor to identify a cost-effective solution to save this beloved and iconic community pool as close as possible to its original size so that Cranston residents of all ages and abilities can continue to enjoy it as they have for decades. But it is inexcusable that four years after the pool closed for the pandemic it is still not re-opened. We join city councilors Aniece German and Robert Ferri in demanding transparency and responsiveness from the Mayor's administration to reopen the pool as quickly as possible. Mayor Hopkins, now is the time to listen to your constituents."

You can watch the press conference here:

The neglect and closure of public pools is part of a long and unfortunate trend in America with roots in segregation. As CNN reporter Nathaniel Meyersohn explained:

"...the success of the civil rights movement integrating pools coincided with a surge of private pools and swim clubs.

"Millions of middle-class White families left cities for the suburbs and built pools in their new backyards during the era. New suburbanites chose to organize country clubs with fees rather than build pools open to the public.

"From 1950 to 1962, 22,000 private swim clubs opened, mostly in White suburbs.

"The development of private, gated communities and homeowners associations in the suburbs also led to the privatization of recreation. Towns formed their own tax bases and local governments with their own services and amenities."

Budlong Pool was built during the late 1930s as part of the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). This New Deal agency employed millions of unemployed people (mostly men) to carry out public works projects, including constructing public buildings and roads. The federal government built 750 pools and remodeled hundreds more between 1933 and 1938. Budlong Pool opened in 1940 and is reputed to be the third-largest pool in America. Given the number of WPA pools that have closed across the country, Budlong is a rare and historic jewel.

Aniece Germaine

“The city council allocated $4 million from ARPA [American Rescue Plan Act] funds to fix Budlong Pool, restore it, and renovate it,” said Cranston City Councilmember Aniece Germaine. “The money is there. There's no problem with money. I call on Mayor Hopkins to listen to our constituents. Their needs are supposed to be the priority, not his wants. Cranston residents spoke. They want to keep the current size of the pool. They want the pool to be operational next summer.”

Mayor Hopkins released his plan back in March. It includes a scaled-down version of a new, more accessible pool and a renovated bathhouse to open in 2024. Later phases would include the addition of a splash pad, and possibly pickleball courts or other neighborhood amenities, such as a dog park. This idea is unpopular with both Cranston voters and the majority of the Cranston City Council.

“We have allocated $4 million in ARPA funds to repair or replace the pool, to get it operational as soon as possible, and for the least possible cost to serve the community in a similar way as we did in the past,” said Cranston City Council President Jessica Marino in a statement read at the press conference. The Council President urged the Mayor to begin the process of fixing Budlong Pool.

Here’s a list of speakers at the press conference, with links to their statements:

• Cranston City Councilmember Aniece Germaine (Ward 2

• Karen Malcolm

• Cranston City Councilmember John Donegan (Ward 3)

• Former Cranston City Councilmember Steve Stycos

• Cranston City Councilmember Robert Ferri (Citywide)

• Tom Wojick

• Kathy

• Susan Blake

• Karen Shore

• Harrison Tuttle, Black Lives Matter RI PAC

• Dan Pires

• Karen Rosenberg

I spoke to Councilmember Germaine a year ago during her reelection campaign and the subject of Budlong Pool came up:

Aniece Germain: My constituent’s top priority is quality of life, as in safety in their neighborhood. Speeding is the number one issue they bring up to me. They want to have their trash picked up on time. They want their street paved, they want the snow removed. They want clean neighborhoods. They want their parks to be cleaned more.

And the number two issue is Budlong Pool.

Budlong Pool is one of the largest public pools in the country and for two years, this pool has not been open to the public. It was closed because of the pandemic. They could not, based on the guidelines from the CDC [United States Center for Disease Control], let people mingle. But after two years, there was no money allocated in the budget for the pool, so I started asking questions. What happened? Why is there no money allocated to the pool?

I went to tour the facility. It’s a shame to see what condition it’s in. For me, this is pure and simple neglect, and it has been neglected for a reason, I think. This year, the heat we had… This summer was awful. We had to have cooling stations in the city. We had to ask people to not go out but to find a place to cool off.

The pool was once a place for people, mostly low-income people, family, and elders, to go. You could walk to the pool and cool off. A lot of families do not have the resources to go to a private pool or drive to Narragansett Bay to go to the beach. They don’t have the opportunity to do that. I had residents explain to me that they learned to swim at Budlong Pool. If we think about those who need it the most, it should be a priority, because it’s part of their quality of life. We have the American Rescue Plan Act [ARPA] that Congress passed. Cranston received a lot of money. I think we can use some of the money to renovate the pool.

We want the pool to be available next year, so I introduced a resolution asking the administration to use ARPA money. This resolution passed unanimously and the other eight councilmembers became co-sponsors. So everyone on the council agrees that we need to open the pool for the people.

Our community’s demographic changed, based on the 2020 census. We had an increase in population and we have a lot more diversity in the city than we did 10 years ago. This shifting may have contributed to the neglect we have observed as well, but that shouldn’t be the case. The people who utilize the pool then are not the same who use it now.

Uprise RI: You’re talking about a shift in race and income. I’ve seen this in other municipalities, where a park or other public good is now used by recent immigrants or lower-income people that look different from those it was initially built for. What the government does then is neglect the facility until it falls apart. Then they say, “Now it’s a mess. Let’s close it.” I would hate to see Budlong Pool fall into that.

Aniece Germain: Not on my watch. As long as I am the councilperson here, that’s not going to happen.

We had someone evaluate the pool and tell us the cost to repair or rebuild it. I am in contact with the federal delegation. I emailed Congressman Langevin, Congressman Cicciline, Senator Reed, and Senator Whitehouse to ask them to see about a federal grant. I also thought, “Why are we waiting? To go through the House and Senate is a long process. Why are we waiting for the federal grant? We have ARPA funds now.”

Cranston City Hall