SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Martin Gowolo says he is disappointed Colina Del Sol city pool was shut down Monday. Gowolo says he takes his 5-year-old granddaughter there, who is learning how to swim.
"We are the poor people. This is the only place we bring our kids. Especially, I bring my granddaughter," said Gowolo.
The city says 4 out of its 14 pools are now closed temporarily, because of a nationwide CO2 shortage. The chemical is used to help maintain the pH levels of the water.
"It was a tough decision. We don't want to close any of the pools. But we had to choose," said Nicole McNeil. She is a district manager of San Diego Parks and Recreation.
The pools that shut down are Colina Del Sol, Carmel Valley, Kearny Mesa and Martin Luther King, Jr. McNeil says programming will be moved to nearby pools.
We asked McNeil why some of the pools closed, are in low-income neighborhoods. She says several factors when into the closures.
"We took a lot of consideration into looking at everything collectively and making sure the communities were not too disrupted," she added.
McNeil says the city has contracts with local high schools sports teams, which it needs to fulfill. She says locations were also chosen based on their size and need for repair.
"We are going to drain the pools and get some much-needed work done, that we wanted to do already," McNeil said.
