After a few short weeks of repairs, the water is back in the Franklin Park Pool and the facility is set to reopen this Friday.
Last year, the Yakima City Council passed a balanced 2026 budget with around $9 million in cuts to police, fire, parks and recreation and other services. Among the facilities cut was the Franklin Park Pool聽鈥� one of two public, outdoor pools in the city. The pool was already slated to close for the 2027 season for important repairs, and council members chose to save city money by shutting the doors a year early.
After hearing community feedback and seeing an outpouring of support through private donations as part of a fundraising campaign led by local lawmakers this spring, however, they changed course and approved one-time funding to help move the repairs forward and reopen the indoor Lions Pool.
The council directed city staff to work expeditiously on the Franklin Pool repairs with the aim of a June 15 opening date. The city is almost hitting that goal with its upcoming June 19 opening. Parks and Recreation Manager Ken Wilkinson said that wouldn鈥檛 be possible without contractors at Poppoff Inc. Repairs had originally been scheduled to start on June 22, but the company worked to push the project up by roughly three weeks.
鈥淚 cannot thank Poppoff enough,鈥� Wilkinson said at a City Council meeting on Tuesday.
Contractors have been working to fix two leaks at the pool聽鈥� one in the bottom of the pool, and one on the deck. City staff also played a key role in moving the process forward. Wilkinson said on Tuesday that all that鈥檚 left to do is pour cement in the deck and do a final cleaning and chemical balance for the water. The Yakima Health District has signed off, and the city has enough lifeguards to keep the pool open with limited hours.
The pool will be open Monday through Friday from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. for recreational swim, and weekend rentals may be possible, depending on lifeguard availability. People can still swim laps during the summer at Lions Pool, and can swim on the weekends at the Martin Luther King Jr. Aquatic Center.聽
鈥淛ason Zeller, the program supervisor, deserves a lot of credit for getting this pool ready to go,鈥� Wilkinson told the 黑料福利社. 鈥淲e're just so thankful for the contractors and staff for just making it a priority. We鈥檙e going to have kids swimming in that pool. I can't wait.鈥�
Mayor Matt Brown expressed his gratitude for the collaborative effort that has gone into the pool's reopening.
"Special thanks needs to be given to State Representatives Jeremie Dufault, Chris Corry, Gloria Mendoza and Deb Manjarrez, and Senators Curtis King and Nikki Torres, for their help in getting this pool open, and to council for insisting on getting it open this summer," Brown said in a statement to the 黑料福利社. "Also a HUGE thanks to all the donors that made this possible, and the community members who showed up to show their support and desire for our pools to be open."