FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Update: The pool reopened at 1:00 p.m. on July 11.
For the third time this summer, the pool at Wilson Park in Fayetteville has been closed down, to be treated and disinfected, according to a post by the Fayetteville Parks and Recreation Department.
The pool was previously closed on both June 12 and 24 for the same reason but reopened one day later.
"The Wilson Park Pool will be closed today due to an unexpected need for intensive cleaning and disinfection," said the city, who have cleaned the pool in the past by raising the chlorine levels and disinfecting all surfaces and pumps.
Lauren Johnson was one of many that were turned away from swimming. She was bringing her two sons for swim lessons.
"I took swim lessons here when I was a kid, and so did my mom when she was a kid," Johnson said. "It's supposed to be the last day of our session. I believe it's number four and [we] pulled up and it's canceled."
Alf and Arlene Satterfield also stopped by for their regular swim at the pool. While they were turned away, they understood the closure after having been at ground zero of a closure earlier this summer.
"The lifeguard told us to get out of the pool because of something, we weren't sure what. So we asked some of the other swimmers, and they said it was a code brown so... so whatever that is, that's... that's what it is," Arlene said.
Griffin Fulton is using the pool to train 3 times a week for an upcoming triathlon. He's used the pool since he was young, and remembers when the closures were handled a bit differently.
"They have to do the 24-hour thing now. I remember coming here when I was growing up and I'm pretty sure if some type of contamination happened in the pool, they would just... scoop it out. We'd wait 30 minutes and then go back. I'm glad they're taking guidelines more seriously," Fulton said.
5NEWS reached out to the city about the closures but they said there is no additional statement beyond what is posted on the Parks and Rec social pages. The posts did not state the direct cause of the shutdown.
"I think with the heat it's easy to get angry about not being able to get in cold water, but I'm still very grateful that we have the pool and it's not just shut down entirely," Fulton added.
"We're just glad they're doing the right thing, actually testing it and, you know, protecting all the swimmers," Arlene added.
As part of Fayetteville Parks and Rec's June 24 closure announcement, the city noted "These things happen."
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