With summer-like heat wasting no time in arriving, the Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Authority is gearing up to help children of all ages find ways to cool down.

The Freeman Pool, the Harrison Taylor Splash Pad at Palmore Park and – after a two-year hiatus – PARA's largest outdoor pool at the Nancie Blewitt Swim Complex in Bowers Park all open on Thursday, just in time for the end of the 2021-22 school year and the start of Memorial Day weekend.

“We are excited to reopen the Blewitt Pool Complex with all the new renovations,” said Becky Booker, PARA’s public relations and marketing manager. “We look forward to seeing everyone on Memorial Day weekend and all summer long.”

With the pool and splash pad openings also come job opportunities. PARA officials still are seeking lifeguards for their facilities – both deep water, or traditional, lifeguards, and shallow water for areas with less than 4 feet of water, like the splash pad.

Deep water lifeguards require extensive certification and shallow water lifeguards or pool attendants have CPR, professional rescuer and first aid training, Booker said.

“We still are hiring (lifeguards),” she said, "but we've got enough to open."

Information on how to become a lifeguard for PARA can be found online at tcpara.org/programs/aquatics-pools.

For the swimmers, the Bowers Park pool, 2101 Bowers Park Drive, returns with its rock wall and the 26-foot “super splasher” slides that were installed in 2016.

Young ones will see the return of the smaller Frog Slide on the kiddie pool, and everyone will benefit from the new shade canopies that have been going up in recent days.

The two-year trek to reopen the Bowers Park pool began with the global coronavirus pandemic, which ended virtually all close contact the summer of 2020 and forced PARA to shut down the facility.

But the pool, which dates back decades, also was showing its age, with cracks and disrepair preventing it from opening for the 2021 summer season.

Earlier this year, the Tuscaloosa City Council approved a $350,000 appropriation to restore the pool complex, named for PARA’s longtime swim instructor, Nancie Blewitt.

“If you learned to swim in Tuscaloosa while you grew up here, you probably learned from her,” said Booker, referring to the scores of novice swimmers whom Blewitt helped teach to enjoy the water.

The lion’s share of the council-approved funding went toward the $275,000 relining of the pool’s surface, with another $28,000 going toward upgrading to LED lights for the pool and deck and another $27,000 for new plumbing and circulation pumps.

The rest went toward the new shade covers, new furnishings and other upgrades.

“Knowing that this pool is still highly used (and) the investments we’d make would last for years … we wanted to recommend moving forward with the improvements to the pool,” said Mayor Walt Maddox when the matter came before the City Council in January.

PARA Executive Director Gary Minor said about 13,000 users swam in the pool the last season it was opened and no City Council member opposed the expense.

“It’s a community issue,” District 1 Councilman Matthew Wilson said.

Councilman John Faile, who represents Bowers Park as part of District 6, agreed.

“Children from all over Tuscaloosa use this pool,” Faile said. “We didn’t use it for COVID two years ago, and this past year it’s just in disrepair.

“I’m excited we can get it open.”

When open, the Bowers Park pool will operated Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays, though it will be open only on weekends after Aug. 11 and will open on Labor Day.

Daily passes are $10 a person for those aged 3 and older, or $8 for PARA members.

Starting Thursday, the Splash Pad at Palmore Park, 3701 Fosters Ferry Road, will operate Monday through Saturdays from noon until 5 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. It also will be open only on weekends after Aug. 11 and will open on Labor Day.

Day passes here are $5 per person for everyone over the age of 2.

And the Freeman Pool, which is within Freeman Park at 3001 Dragons Lane, will open Thursday with the following operating hours:

• Monday-Thursday: 9 a.m. to noon

• Tuesday-Thursday: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

• Saturday: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

More details on PARA's pool rates, including group and package deals, can be found at tcpara.org/programs/aquatics-pools.