POOL & PARK UPDATE 3

Post-Sheraden Community Council Meeting, June 24, 2025 This is a collection of my notes, opinions, and thoughts on these matters. Any factual errors are mine alone. 

A short history: The Sheraden Pool was closed in 2020 during the citywide pandemic shutdowns. Some city pools re-opened in 2021, but there was a severe shortage of staff/lifeguards and Sheraden’s pool was not one that was re-activated. From that point forward, we were told it was “mechanical issues”, and we didn’t hear that until right before the pools were supposed to open for the season. We’re not opening again in 2025, as now the pool is deemed “unsafe”. 

Mechanical issues: As stated at the 6/24/2025 meeting by the Director of the Department of Public Works (DPW), Chris Hornstein, with the type of piping and filtrations systems we have in these older pools, lack of use leads to becoming not usable. Use it or lose it, essentially. The safety issues have to do with the pool deck, electrical, and state of the outbuilding. Options/TImeline: Our options are to spend up to $1.5 million dollars to fix the existing pool in place, or to scrap the whole thing and build a new pool, probably in a different location within the Sheraden/McGonigle/Tuxedo Park footprint*. No matter what we do, we’re looking at anywhere from 2-5 years before we have a pool in Sheraden again. DPW would prefer a new pool/new location, as the current location of the pool is problematic with stormwater runoff and other access issues.

What’s been going on: This all also ties in to the updates for the Sheraden Park master plan (2020/23 edition). The master plan was completed in 2020 (and the pool was not part of the original considerations). Once completed, the plan goes over to DPW to develop the implementation plan and get the permitting in place. This often means a bunch of reality checks, i.e. the plan calls for a dog park on what is a steep slope, that is not a practical or feasible thing. The plan calls for sand volleyball courts, and is that a thing we really need, plus the maintenance of something of that nature (such as not letting it turn into a giant litterbox) is complicated. 

So DPW worked over the Phase 1 piece of the park plan to make it doable, and then it goes to Permitting (PLI), where they run into an unforeseen snag - one of the last things the Peduto administration did was put new stormwater management requirements on the books, to improve and make equitable the requirement for removing and mitigating stormwater and runoff. This is a good thing! Except, that admin was on the way out, a new admin came in, and then they realized that the new codes didn’t take into account pervious vs. impervious surfaces. Trying to make a plan to remove and mitigate a whole bunch of stormwater when it’s soaking into the ground faster than you can pull it out isn’t practical. But that’s the code on the books, and that’s what they’ve been negotiating and working around and trying to work out. This is close to being figured out, per DPW, and they should be able to start work on Phase 1 later this year or early 2026. Once Phase 1 is permitted, they can begin the work to get Phase 2 ready to go, so that when the Phase 1 work is completed, Phase 2 work can start right away. The Phase 2 planning will likely include the pool now, so we need to keep/be kept up to date on that in a big way. The Community Council Meeting was an information session and chance for people to ask questions. 

• What we came away with: information and a plan to have DPW come back in November for another update. 

• What we didn’t come away with: we still lack any sort of a comprehensive action plan for what we do to mitigate the loss of a major asset for our neighborhood. 

  • We were told that there will be some sort of basketball clinic happening for a couple of weeks, as well as a 2-week learn to swim program at the pool inside of Langley**

  • We are reminded that there’s a boxing program with an art component, this is great but difficult to find information about in order to refer people to

  • We are reminded that HOPE for Tomorrow is in the neighborhood - they are great, but they are also at capacity 

  • We are told that the Jasmine Nyree Center has received city funds to provide a lunch program, but it hasn’t appeared to have started yet.****

  • (Not mentioned at the meeting, but Kiwanis also runs some really good programs and do nice things with the kids they work with, but again, it’s one part of a much larger need.)
    

All of the above is good, but it’s also piecemeal and doesn’t provide anything for young people who maybe aren’t into sports, or those particular sports, and it is primarily, even if unintentionally, geared towards boys. The programs are short term, and they do not provide enough in terms of ongoing mentorship, skill-building, etc. This has also been an issue for several years and was not addressed proactively as it should have been as soon as we knew there wouldn’t be a pool the first year out. We need to get on this now and start coming up with alternate plans. And frankly, even when we get the pool back, these programs need to stay in place - we need “more and”, not “this or that”. 

Other issues that remain to be addressed:

• Why aren’t the existing park facilities being maintained in a usable manner until we get replacements in? We feel the loss of any asset in this neighborhood in a big way. 

  • What is being done to stop the dumping that has happened at the park for decades?

• How we got here and how we can have this NOT happen again. 

  • What is our role as a community in ensuring that our neighborhood receives timely attention? 

  • How do we hold our leadership accountable for their part in ensuring that we receive timely attention and needed services?

  • How do we stay on track moving forward?

  • How will information on progress be shared out to us, by leadership, on a regular basis?
    

In the meantime:

With no pool currently available, we need to have other SOLUTIONS for children, young people, and adults to get to other pools and programs in the city. 

• We should have free bus passes in the hands of any person under 24 in the neighborhood, to use to get to other pools, other programming, and work sites. 

• We need to provide ongoing, well-rounded programming*** in the park or other neighborhood spaces to make sure there are things for all kinds of folks to do - young, old, and in-between.  

• We need to have summer lunch programs that begin as soon as school is out, and year-round dinner programs available. 

• We need to be taking holistic approaches to the needs of the neighborhood and building or bringing in comprehensive programs, services, and activities. 

• We need to actively support the people doing work to bring programs to the neighborhood, and find ways - as a unified community - to coordinate our efforts. 

Additionally, we need INFORMATION. 

• We need complete and detailed communication, information sharing, and access for anything going on in the westside - all programs and local businesses have at least a one-page*+ website with contact information, hours, and descriptions of services

• We should be receiving a monthly email newsletter from our District 2 leadership, updating us on city and district matters and where they stand (See District 5 for a great example of this.)

• We need a static location (i.e. a website) to find information and updates from our District 2 leadership - sharing posts and comments in Facebook groups is not enough. (See also the District 5 link.)

• We need community events and meetings to share out post-meeting information for those who can’t attend, to make in-person attendance more accessible*++, and to provide virtual meeting access.  

So that’s the gist of it so far. Next steps are up to us, the community at large, to come up with. If you have ideas and want to take the lead on something, reach out! There will be follow up as soon as possible. Another way you can help - take the very short Sheraden survey here: SURVEY

Stay in touch: 

• Check this page when you can, and reminder that this is a department of one operation.

• If you have info to share, please email SheradenPGH@gmail.com or text 425.686.8390

• Join the email list, and let your non-Facebook neighbors know about it.

• If you’re on Facebook, join the Sheraden NOW group. 

THANK YOU, NEIGHBORS! ~sgw

*see the master plan details here: https://www.pittsburghpa.gov/Business-Development/City-Planning/Planning-Projects/Sheraden-Park-Master-Plan

**Langley has a small indoor pool in the basement. Langley is also a Community School. More on this at some point soon. 

***Well-rounded programming means not just sports - STEAM-based activities and programs, computer literacy, age-appropriate financial literacy, DJ classes, double dutch classes, walking programs, nature programs, etc. 

*+URL hosting sites often provide a free, basic webpage builder when you host your URL through them - can we have a class to teach local businesses and program providers how to access and take advantage of that, and/or provide assistance to facilitate on a regular basis, and so on. 

++Accessible meetings provide at least childcare, maybe snacks or meals if they’re happening during what should be dinner time, and they provide virtual options for folks with other accessibility needs.

****I have a phone call in to Citiparks, I have emailed our neighborhood liaison with the City, left messages with Jasmine Nyree - will update when I hear anything back from anyone.