Dilboy pool?

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

Hello, friends! Have you ever been swimming at the Dilboy pool? How is it? Is it remotely possible to do laps there, or should I not bother with that? Is it a nice place to relax/cool off/lay out?

Thanks in advance for any info you may have!

Comments

[psocoptera.livejournal.com]

I was there today and it was nice! I think it is a nice place to cool off; dunno about relaxing or laying out (no lounge chairs, lots of kids milling around). You could try to swim laps but I don't know if it would be fun (I don't think the kids would be good at avoiding you, you'd have to stay alert to avoid them). (I don't mean to sound anti-kid - I was there with my kid - just realistic.)

A couple of things to know: it was free last year, but this year they're charging $2 for adults and $1 for kids. They were willing to waive it for us today since I hadn't brought my wallet (there are no lockers, so I try to avoid bringing valuables just to have less to think about), but said that they were planning to start enforcing it tomorrow, I think. They also seem to be "cracking down" on what you can bring in and had a list of banned items - strollers, flotation devices, maybe coolers? I don't remember the whole list, sorry. I have a folding stroller with a shoulder strap and they let me carry it in folded, but people with bigger strollers might want to bring a bike lock and plan to leave them outside. I didn't ask whether the same rules applied to the wading pool area as to the big pool area.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

I don't mean to sound anti-kid
You don't! That's exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for; thank you.

this year they're charging $2 for adults and $1 for kids
I am SUPER surprised to hear this, as it's a DCR pool.

[m-b-w.livejournal.com]

According to http://www.mass.gov/dcr/recreate/pools.htm, "Admission is free at DCR managed pools" and the Dilboy pool is "Managed by the City of Somerville."

[svilletheatre.livejournal.com]

Somerville charging a fee for something? - - - shocking, just shocking...

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

Is that a new arrangement? I'd never heard of cities managing DCR pools.

[smammy]

There's a dead body joke here somewhere...

[intuition-ist.livejournal.com]

that's not funny! ;>

[ron_newman]

I added the 'swimming' tag to this post. Some earlier posts also talk about the Foss Park pool and the one next to Russell Field at the end of Rindge Ave in Cambridge.

[aquaflame16.livejournal.com]

I visited three of the local DCR pools last year: Dilboy, Foss Park and the McCrehan in Cambridge. I have not been to any of these this year, so things may have changed since then. (Is the Dilboy not DCR anymore?)

However, my experience last year was that the Dilboy was, by far, the one I liked least.
The changing area/bathrooms were the oldest and dirtiest (McCrehan was cleanest/newest). (Maybe with the fees Somerville could fix this if they haven't already.) There is the least space to put down your stuff within sight but far enough away from the pool to not get splashed (the concrete surrounds at Foss and McCrehan are much bigger). It also has the least range of depths (I think, Foss may be the same, McCrehan definitely goes both shallower and deeper).

It is reasonable for relaxing/cooling off. I would say it's questionable whether you could successfully do laps there, but I think that's true of all the public free/cheap pools unless they have specific lap times (do any of them?). This depends greatly on how hot it is though, a warm but not super hot day it would be much more possible to do laps.

[swaan.livejournal.com]

I tried to swim laps there a few years ago, and it wasn't easy. There are no lanes, kids don't pay attention to you. It's also not a very big pool, and so you have to make lots of turns. I live nearby and have been thinking about trying again - maybe when it first opens, which is...when? I can't find a schedule.