San Francisco Plans to Reopen All Public Pools by Mid-June

The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department announced Monday that it expects to reopen all of the city's public pools by the start of summer, and that two indoor pools would open as soon as next week.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Pool in the Bayview District and Sava Pool in the Sunset District will become the first indoor public pools to reopen on April 20.

The agency hopes that by mid-June all nine pools in the city are ready to welcome back swimmers. So far, only Mission Pool has reopened due to the fact it's outdoors.

To reduce COVID-19 transmission, all locker rooms will remain closed. Swimmers will have to sign up ahead of time to reserve 60-minute lap times. At indoor pools, only one swimmer will be allowed per lane.

These rules meet CDC guidelines for pool safety, which ask swimmers to stay at least 6 feet apart while both outside and inside the water.

Recreation and Parks officials clarified in a press release that "Temperature checks will be performed before entering the building and masks are required outside of the water."

The next pools to reopen will be: Garfield Pool on May 1; North Beach and Coffman Pool on May 17; Balboa Pool on June 1; Hamilton Pool on June 7. The exact date for the reopening of Rossi Pool is not yet known, but city officials expect the date to be around mid-June.

Starting April 16, swimmers interested in signing up for a slot at Martin Luther King, Jr. Pool and Sava Pool can do so here.

— Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí