Donors Offer to Help Keep Public Pools Open Longer - FOX 42: Omaha News, Sports and Weather; kptm.com |

Nicole Ebat

OMAHA(KPTM)--Public pools are scheduled to close in early August, but most schools don't start up again until a few weeks later.

That leaves a lot of kids with not much to do.

"I don't know, I could play in the sprinklers," said Dallas Niebur.

"The internet?" questioned Alex Matthai. "There's nothing else to do."

But thanks to a $100,000 offered donation to the city from three different organizations, the mayor's office says the pools could stay open a bit longer.

The donors wish to remain anonymous.

"It's been hot obviously," said Tron Smith as he watched his kids swim. "If you could keep the pools open a little bit longer obviously that keeps the kids out of trouble, I think that's a good idea."

The city plans on keeping most public pools open daily until school starts and then on weekends through Labor Day.

With the high heat this summer, pool attendance is up. The city says revenue from the public pools is up 23% from last year.

The city's public pool manager says keeping the pools open is something the city has wanted to do for a while, but the money will make it a reality.

"With it being this hot, it's just the right thing to do," said Omaha councilman Pete Festersen.

It could cost less too. Right now admission to public pools can cost up to $4 for kids and more for adults. But admission prices could go down to just 25 cents for people under 18 and $1 for everyone else.

"That would be nice," said Tina Bruner. "Being a family of 6 it cost me $20 to get in today and it'd be nice, a little bit cheaper."

She said at that price, she'll be hitting the pool with her family "a lot" during the extended session.