Posted: July 27th, 2007

PRESS RELEASE
Embargoed for Release: 7/31/07
Please don’t call anyone for comment until after the event has taken place

Contact: Peter Kuhns ACORN (213) 272-1141
Robert García 213-977-1035 The City Project

In Bathing Suits and Towels, Group of Local Low-Income Residents Plead for the New Pool to Be Made Open to the Public, Rather than Sit Empty All Summer in an Area with No Other Options for Recreation

Central Los Angeles: On the afternoon of Tuesday, July 31, dozens of residents of the Central City West area, near downtown LA, will mobilize to demand that the city open the recently built Miguel Contreras Pool. Community members are outraged that the pool – one of the only public Olympic sized pools in the city – has been shuttered all summer in one of the areas of LA that is most deprived of parks and recreational opportunities.

● What: Local ACORN Members and their Families, Dressed in Swimsuits, Demand the Opening of Miguel Contreras Pool
● When: Tuesday, July 31; 3:30 p.m.
● Where: Miguel Contreras Pool, 322 S. Lucas Ave., Los Angeles

The pool, located at the new $168 million Miguel Contreras Learning Complex, is filled with water and ready to provide a place to swim and play during the long hot summer for the children and the community. The only thing missing is lifeguards, which cost the city $13.08 an hour. The City has 700 lifeguards and 54 pools. 6-10 lifeguards could be reassigned from several other pools to work at Miguel Contreras. Yet neither the Recreation and Parks Department nor the Los Angeles Unified School District have provided the lifeguards and open the pool. “I don’t believe this beautiful pool is just sitting here empty when our kids don’t have anywhere to cool off!” said Teresa Castaneda, mother of 4 and an ACORN member, who lives 2 blocks from the pool.

At Tuesday’s rally, residents will call on the city to provide some much needed relief to the neighborhood by opening the pool for the remainder of the summer. Mothers, with kids in tow, will proclaim it silly to have such a great facility – in a community that so badly needs it – inaccessible to local residents for general use. They will announce their plans to go directly to City Hall if necessary to make their case.

ACORN

Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now