Local News

Why are so many of Boston’s city pools closed?

With more than half of Boston's city-operated pools currently shuttered, some Bostonians are left searching for another place to cool off.

Ten of Boston's 18 city-operated pools are currently closed for business, with repairs and renovations largely to blame.

By Abby Patkin

August 3, 2023

2 minutes to read

The majority of the city’s pools remain closed as Boston hits the summer midpoint, leaving some Bostonians searching for another place to get their splash on.

Ten of the 18 city-operated pools are currently down for the count, spanning neighborhoods from West Roxbury to Charlestown.

A city spokesperson provided Boston.com with a list of shuttered pools, with several of the closures chalked up to renovations and building work. There was no explicit reason given for four of the pool closures.

“The City of Boston is modernizing municipal facilities around the City that due to years of deferred maintenance are not up to the standards our families deserve,” the spokesperson explained in a statement.

Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration “recently launched a Resilient Buildings Plan to ensure that moving forward we can better keep up maintenance work and prevent prolonged closures of our City’s beloved facilities,” the spokesperson added.

Which pools are closed?

The Boston Centers for Youth & Families (BCYF) pool closures include:

BCYF Blackstone (50 West Brookline St., South End)
BCYF Clougherty Pool (331 Bunker Hill St., Charlestown)
BCYF Draper Pool (5275 Washington St., West Roxbury)
BCYF Holland (85 Olney St., Dorchester)
BCYF Leahy-Holloran (1 Worrell St., Dorchester)
BCYF Marshall (35 Westville St., Dorchester)
BCYF Mattahunt (100 Hebron St., Mattapan)
BCYF Mildred Avenue (5 Mildred Ave,, Mattapan)
BCYF Perkins (155 Talbot Ave., Dorchester)
BCYF Quincy (885 Washington St., Chinatown)

A full list of BCYF pools is available online, as is a map of city-operated pool and splash pad locations.

What’s the impact?

The extensive pool closures have drawn the ire of Boston’s residents and elected officials alike.

“It’s really maddening, because it’s not like this is something that couldn’t have been foreseen,” City Councilor Erin Murphy said in a statement to The Boston Globe. “Not everyone lives near a beach or can hop in a car and drive to one outside the city.”

She added: “We tried to take steps to ensure the administration’s readiness, and for residents not to be able to use these facilities as we’re facing dangerous heat is very frustrating.”

Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune chalked up many of the closures to “deferred maintenance” over the years, according to the Globe.

“We haven’t done the best job in investing in and maintaining our assets, and that’s on us to do a better job,” she said.

Notably, as the Dorchester Reporter and WBZ have both pointed out, all six city-owned pools in Dorchester and Mattapan are closed.

Speaking to WBZ, community activist Domingos DaRosa noted the disparity in pool access across Boston’s neighborhoods.

“We talk about equity, and it’s not. This community never seems to get a fair share of services,” DaRosa said.

Meetinghouse Hill resident Shirley Jones told the Reporter that she has been bringing her grandchildren and foster kids to other cities to swim.

“We have to travel far to swim even though we could just walk over to the Holland or the Marshall, but they are both closed,” Jones told the newspaper.