People flocking to Oswego pools, splash pad for relief from summer heat

The hot temperatures this summer have brought plenty of people to the Oswegoland Park District’s two outdoor pools and splash pad as a way to cool off.

So far this summer, more than 18,000 people have visited the Park District’s Civic Center Aquatic Pool and Winrock Pool, according to Director of Recreation Kristie Vest.

“We’ve also had busy tots enjoying the Prairie Point Community Park Splash Pad this summer,” Vest said. “That is a free amenity, which has brought families out all throughout these hot days of June and July.”

The Park District serves all of the residents who live within the district’s about 38-square-mile service area, including all of Oswego, parts of Montgomery, Aurora and Plainfield and all of Boulder Hill. The Park District also includes the surrounding countryside of Oswego Township and a small portion of Will County.

The Park District’s aquatic staff has already taught more than 1,000 participants how to swim this summer, Vest said.

“We love to see this level of activity happening at both Winrock Pool and the Civic Center,” Vest said. “Public pools are a bit of an endangered species.”

As Vest noted, there are 10.7 million swimming pools in the United States but only 309,000 of those are public pools, according to 2023 statistics.

“It’s wonderful to provide these amenities to people who don’t have a subdivision or backyard pool,” Vest said. “I know the community pool was a part of my summer tradition and I’m glad to see it continue in the Oswegoland area for these kids.”

Oswegoland Park District leaders are viewing the district’s recent acquisition of the long-vacant Esporta Fitness center in Oswego as a way to provide more recreational opportunities – including the district’s first indoor swimming pool.

“I would say the thing that the district is most excited about is having our first indoor pool and being able to activate that,” Oswegoland Park District Deputy Executive Director Chad Feldotto, who also is the district’s director of parks and planning, has said.

“To be able to offer swim lessons all year round will be an amazing amenity for our programming,” he said.