Brighton plans to close one of the area's last municipal pools. Residents want to save it

The town of Brighton is wrapping up its summer swimming season and will shut down its public pool on Friday — possibly for good.

In the place of one of the few remaining municipal pools in the area, the town would build a splash pad.

Brighton Supervisor Bill Moehle said the pool’s age, costs, low usage and staffing challenges were factors in the decision.

“The existing town pool is, I think ... 36 years old? It is well past its useful life,” Moehle said. “Honestly, it really doesn't make sense to try to do rehabilitative work to it. So, you know, we made the decision that we would take it out of service.”

But that idea isn’t sitting well with some residents.

An online petition has gathered more than 400 signatures . And residents have been turning out to Town Board meetings advocating to save the pool, which is behind the public library and town hall.

“A splash pad could be added as well, but a pool is widely used by more residents,” Brighton resident Lauren Mesi told board members this week.

A pool appeals to a wider age range, she added, while a splash pad "appeals to toddlers and preschoolers. Very rarely do adults use splash pads except to cool off when they’re with their children. Splash pads offer little or no recreational value to the rest of our residents.”

Moehle, though, argues the splash pad would be more accessible to people with mobility issues, and its season could be longer, since it wouldn't rely on school schedules for lifeguards. That also would reduce expenses, he said.

“We've been losing over $25,000 on average a year in pool operations,” he said, “and, again, for a very short time period.”

Brighton’s pool season averages about 50 days. And records show that, through Monday, the pool had seen an average daily attendance of roughly 50 people this season.

“One of the challenges with a pool, with an outdoor pool, in a climate like this is that the season is very short, and the challenge that everybody's been having of finding lifeguards,” Moehle said. “If we're able to operate (a splash pad) even, let's say, from Memorial Day to Labor Day — and I suspect we'll be able to do it somewhat longer — that would be close to twice as long as the pool.”

The splash pad is part of a larger project that also promises a new, more accessible playground, a new pavilion, and renovations to Town Hall. Separately, the town also has been assessing the potential for a new community and recreation center. Part of that work involved a public survey that, back in 2022, found 47% of respondents wanted an outdoor pool included in any improvements. Thirty-nine percent said splash pad.

Moehle said the overall plan does not involve removing trees behind the police station, nor the sidewalk, nor making any large-scale change in parking. All were concerns raised by residents just learning of the project.

The splash pad size and design is yet to be determined. It would go where the pool is today.

Town officials could not provide cost estimates for repair or replacement, including for the new splash pad.

“Our plan is that we will have the splash pad open for the ’25 season,” Moehle said. “We expect to get financial support in making it (the splash pad) happen."

The timeline for the new playground is roughly the same.

But Town Board member Robin Wilt said the decision is not final and that valid concerns are being raised about equity and access.

There are only a handful of municipal pools in the city and its suburbs. Nearly all require memberships or otherwise restrict usage.

Monroe County regulates public pools, which includes municipal pools as well as pools at hotels, schools and apartment complexes. Of the 103 indoor and 154 outdoor public pools plus 14 wading pools in Monroe County, just five are municipally owned and still operating, records show.

There are three in the city — at Genesee Valley Park and the Adam Street and Trenton & Pamela Jackson recreation centers (the latter two are indoor). There used to be more, but several have closed over the past decade or more, with some being replaced by splash pads.

There is one each in Brighton and Perinton.

Webster has the Aquatic Center, an indoor facility that functions like a municipal pool but is owned by the Webster Central School District.