Douglass pool renovation complete

Parks workers were busy Friday preparing the newly renovated Douglass Pool for its rededication at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Admission to the pool, which features the first climbing wall at a city water park, is free between 1 and 1:30 p.m. Saturday and 10 cents the rest of the day. Starting at 2 p.m. there will be games for kids at the top of every hour.

The $299,000 renovation also included a new pool shell and other park and pool upgrades.

“We’ve been cleaning up real thoroughly for a few days to make it look good,” pool employee Jasmine Edwards said on Friday afternoon.

Five-year pool employee Jon Grant said the staff was looking forward to Saturday.

“We’re doing the normal stuff we do, just more of it this week. We just want to make sure everyone has a good time tomorrow,” he said.

“It’s fun for us. This big kind of stuff doesn’t happen very often here. It’s nice to play host.”

Park landscapers were cleaning dirt from parking lots and sidewalks left from construction work at the pool and resurfaced basketball courts in Douglass Park.

“The last two days we’ve been doing lots of grading, seeding and strawing,” said landscaper Rhea Rostine.

“Basically we’re trying to make it look nicer after all the work,” said fellow landscaper Emily Bichel.

The rededication is being held in conjunction with the Juneteenth celebration on Saturday and Sunday in Douglass Park. The celebration will feature a car show, poetry readings, gospel choir, a performance by Fidelity and a performance by a local drumline.

Juneteenth is a nationwide celebration held every June to commemorate the day in June 1865 that African-Americans in Galveston, Texas, were told they were free from slavery.