MENTOR, Ohio — Over recent years, we've been telling you about cities across Northeast Ohio struggling to hire and retain lifeguards, forcing many pools to close. It may not feel like it yet, but summer will be here soon. News 5 is following through on the progress being made in Mentor. The city has already opened its lifeguard applications to see if they will have enough people to reopen more pools this year. Additionally, the Mentor City Council and the Administration announced the Eleanor B. Garfield Park Pool is getting revamped in an effort for the city to combat shortages.
We don’t just report the initial story—we follow through to its conclusion. Read and watch our previous reporting on this story below and see more stories that we've followed through on here.
Pools were a center for community gathering, learning, exercise, and play. But like many things, COVID-19 changed that. Nearly four years later, the struggle to return to normal staffing levels continues to put pools in jeopardy.
“We used to have three outdoor pools and we had an excess of 100 guards for the summer season and once COVID-19 hit it dropped down to about 40 guards,” said Nita Justice, Recreations Superintendent, City of Mentor.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in July 2023 that 55% of young people ages 16 to 24 were employed, but that’s a drop from 2019 to when 56.2% were employed before the pandemic. Though the decline hasn't been very steep, Justice said the climb back up has been slippery.
“When we tried to reopen all the pools, we sort of missed out on the employment boat with that with lifeguards,” said Justice.
Last summer, the City of Mentor could only open one outdoor pool and no learn-to-swim classes could be offered.
“It’s devastating because our community has learned to expect that,” said Justice. “It’s a great community opportunity for people to get together. We used to learn a plethora of learn-to-swim programs, but if we don't have the guards of the WSI instructors to teach that then we are not able to teach that to toddlers and so on.”
To help combat staffing shortages, Mentor City Council voted to convert the 60-year-old Garfield Park Pool into a new splash pad feature. It will save the city money and lifeguards won’t be needed. Construction for the project is anticipated to start in 2025. In the meantime, Justice hopes to hire at least 75 lifeguards so Mentor can have two outdoor pools reopen this summer.
“It’s the best job out there,” said Justice. “There‘s good comradery. They work with 15 to 20 other people at one time just at our big Civic Pool, they make friends, they learn lifelong skills they are CPR certified and they are trained to save lives.”
Pay starts a $13 an hour and can go up to $15 an hour if working 30 hours a week or more. The city will reimburse required training costs through the Red Cross. You must be at least 15 years old to apply.
Click here to apply.
