Rolling Meadows Park District outsources pool operations

The Rolling Meadows Park District has outsourced management of its outdoor pool to a company that should be able to keep more lifeguard positions filled and keep the pool open longer, officials said.

Daily summer hours at the Nelson Sports Complex Pool began this week under the operation of Jeff Ellis Management, a national firm that runs aquatic facilities for park districts, homeowner associations, country clubs and resort hotels.

Most park districts in the suburbs operate their own pools, but a select few - including the Fox Valley Park District and Waukegan Park District - contract with Jeff Ellis, which can pull from its roster of lifeguards if there's a shortage at any particular pool.

Amy Charlesworth, executive director of the Rolling Meadows Park District, said there's been a decline in the number of young people applying to be lifeguards the last few years. Jeff Ellis now handles the hiring, training and scheduling of lifeguards, though Rolling Meadows residents and returning lifeguards got first priority, Charlesworth said.

Swim lessons have also been expanded from only mornings to afternoons, she said.

And daily summer pool hours are now uninterrupted from 1 to 8:30 p.m., whereas in the past open swim was unavailable from 5 to 6:30 p.m. during lessons and swim team practice. A section of the pool is being cordoned off for those activities now, Charlesworth said.

The park district is paying Jeff Ellis $120,000 to run this summer's pool season, which runs through Labor Day (weekends only after Aug. 13). The district also plans to have the company run the pool the following two summers.

"It's not going to be without some growing pains because the park district had one way of managing the pool throughout the years," Charlesworth said. "But as we move throughout the summer, it's going to be a great season and the residents will have a nice, safe place to cool off."

Meanwhile, Charlesworth said the district has permanently shuttered the outdoor pool at Plum Grove Park in Palatine after it closed last season when a leak was discovered. Further testing showed the 1960s-era pool shell was also crumbling. The fixes would have cost about $800,000.

A landscape architect is working on plans for the space, which could include a picnic shelter and outdoor restrooms.