Firestone Park pool in Columbiana. (Salem News file photo)

COLUMBIANA — At the beginning of summer, the park board made the difficult decision to open up the Firestone Park pool despite the COVID-19 pandemic. While implementing all of the guidelines set out by Gov. Mike DeWine, the CDC and the local health department, the board was set on opening the pool with a short leash.

After several months into the decision, the pool is still open, as the staff hasn’t had any problems with upholding the guidelines. However, park superintendent Terry Shaffer admits that they were hoping for a little more attendance since opening back up.

“I’m glad we did it,” Shaffer said. “I wish we would have had more people to be very honest, but we’ve been very appreciative for everyone who has come.”

Perhaps the numbers were low for the pool, but Shaffer said that the people who have come have been extremely grateful for their willingness and effort to open the pool during this time. He also understands that the numbers may be low since many people are not ready to go out again.

From a financial standpoint, the pool is still making money from rentals, concession stands and lessons. While opening the pool up to other communities would likely bring in more money, Shaffer said they made the right decision in opening it up to Columbiana residents only.

“Trumbull County just went red, so it proves that keeping it to our city was the right thing to do,” Shaffer said. “We’ve had no issues here whatsoever, and that’s the most important thing.”

Part of the reason that the park board decided to open up the pool was due to Shaffer’s recommendation to fill the pool regardless. From the start, he did not want to leave the pool unattended for the full year. They scrubbed the pool and fixed a leak, and Shaffer said that leaving the pool empty could have caused even more financial problems in the long term.

Overall, Shaffer is happy with the decision that the park board made and has considered it a success despite the low attendance.

In other news, the concert series in the park was canceled for the rest of the season in early August. After several discussions surrounding the issue, the park board felt that it would be too risky to allow the audience and performers congregate during each performance.

Park board member and concerts chairman Greg Gustafson added on Facebook that he didn’t think it was fair to the performers if nobody attended the concerts out of fear of possible spread of the virus.

“Hopefully next summer we can get together at the gazebo in Firestone Park and enjoy some great entertainment,” Gustafson said in the Facebook post.

With many projects in early stages, the park board has a lot of work to do, and the community has a lot to look forward to over the next few months. In the meantime, the pool will look to host more community members for the remainder of the summer.