As a father of five, Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said he knows how difficult summer can be once kids are let out of school with nowhere to go and nothing to do.
“Schools are officially out for summer in the city of Hartford, but we've got you covered,” Arulampalam said.
On Monday, Arulampalam announced that city swimming pools are now open at Keney Park, Colt Park, Pope Park and Goodwin Park.
“This year, we've got pools open three weeks early here in the city,” he said, “so that as soon as school got out, we'd be ready.”
Through early August, the city’s outdoor pools are open for recreational swimming and free swimming lessons for ages 4 to 17.
With temperatures expected to hit up to the high 90s in the coming days, Arulampalam said families can stay cool at the city pools.
“Especially in urban environments, it’s so often very difficult to beat the heat,” Arulampalam said. “Some days are going to be too hot to do that, but on days in which it is safe to come to the pool and hang out in the water, it's a great way to cool off as a family.”
This year, he said the city has over 80 lifeguards trained to keep kids safe as they stay cool in the summer heat.
Keeping Hartford’s youth active and engaged
“Having talked to thousands of residents, one of the top things that residents, both residents with families and older folks who are worried about young people in their community, would tell me is, we've got to create activities for our young people to engage in,” Arulampalam said. “If we don't give them the opportunity to make good choices, it is so easy to make bad choices.”
Starting July 7, kids in Hartford can participate in the summer night gym program. They can take part in all kinds of sports and activities every weekday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The summer night gym program started last year as a free city-wide service that was made possible through partnerships with local nonprofits. According to Arulampalam, over 1,000 children benefit from the program.
Details are still in the works for the program this year. Active City and the City of Hartford’s Department of Sports and Recreation are currently asking for donations to keep the program going.
Providing these services ensures that young people in Hartford are able to have uplifting experiences with peers, Arulampalam said.
“We want to make sure that our kids have every opportunity to engage in positive activities, to build relationships with each other, to have mentors in their lives,” he said, like the parks and rec staff members.
Having safe places for children to visit during the day and the night helps make the city an overall safer place, Arulampalam said.
“Activities like this, along with our Office of Violence Prevention, along with our community ambassadors and Violence Intervention folks out in the field, along with the police department that is working to work more closely with the community and to better meet the needs of our community, those taken together, have shown that they can bring down violence in the city of Hartford,” he said.
It also elevates the city in a way that Arulampalam said allows the city of Hartford to be on the same level as surrounding towns when it comes to sports and recreation.
“Our goal was to create a sports and recreation ecosystem in the city in which every Hartford resident had just as many options as residents in Avon and Simsbury and Glastonbury and all the surrounding towns,” he said, “And you know, I think we're on a pathway to get there.”
Learn more
Visit the City of Hartford Department of Sports & Recreation website and the Active City Hartford website to get more information about summer programs, including:
- Recreational swimming hours at city pools: Recreational swimming hours on weekdays are 1-4:30 p.m. for children ages 4 to 17 and 6-7:30 p.m. for adults. Times vary on weekends.
- Swimming lessons for children ages 4 to 17. Three sessions are available for the swimming lessons, including Session A from June 16 to July 3, Session B from July 7-25 and Session C from July 28 to Aug. 15.
- Summer night gyms locations and additional information
