Alpharetta Closes Wills Park Pool For Season

ALPHARETTA, GA — Swimmers who were looking forward to using the Wills Park pool in the last few weeks of the season will no longer have that opportunity. That's because the city has closed the pool for the season due to a shortage of certified life guards.

Alpharetta planned to open the pool for the next three weekends, which would have extended its typical season past the traditional Labor Day closure.

“This was not a decision we came to easily or quickly," said Morgan Rodgers, director of Recreation, Parks & Cultural Services for the city. “Before coming to this decision, we contacted surrounding cities and counties, private swim organizations, and even reached out to our Department of Public Safety seeking certified lifeguards, all to no avail."

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A minimum of eight life guards are required to be on duty when the pool is in operation to provide necessary supervision and safety for the public. Alpharetta currently has only three certified life guards remaining on its staff.

"We do have plans in place to be able to properly staff the pool during a couple of small events that were planned before the start of the season," said Rodgers. "Unfortunately, we just do not have enough life guards to operate the pool for those last few weekends."'

Each year Alpharetta hires a cadre of life guards to staff the pool during the season. Nearly all of them are college and high school students; most of whom are no longer available when their school year begins. At the start of the season this year enough life guards expected to be available for the final weekends in September, but their availability changed as they made sports teams and academic commitments changed.

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