YOUNGSTOWN — Unlike last year, the city’s Northside Pool is ready to open next week without any delays.

“The pool is a big part of summer for a lot of kids,” Dawn Turnage, the city’s parks and recreation director, said. “We’re looking forward to a good year.”

The pool will open noon June 15 with Mayor Jamael Tito Brown, a former lifeguard there, diving into the water.

The pool, on the corner of Belmont Avenue and Tod Lane, will be open 1 to 8 p.m. daily unless otherwise noted.

The pool is expected to be open until Aug. 12 though it’s possible that could be extended, Turnage said.

Admission prices remain the same: $3 for those 18 and older and $2 for children.

Northside — like other public pools in the state — was closed in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pool’s opening last year was delayed a couple of times.

First, a shortage of chlorine and mechanical malfunctions pushed the opening from June 6 to June 28. Then a lack of lifeguards delayed the opening until July 14.

“We have eight returning lifeguards from last year who will work at the pool, and we have 20 young adults interested in becoming lifeguards,” Turnage said.

Those 20 are being trained by the Youngstown Lifeguard Academy.

“It’s been a great relationship, and we’re able to recruit a lot of people,” Turnage said.

Some will be hired as lifeguards at the city pool while others will be employed in other jobs there such as locker room attendants and cashiers, she said.

Also, four people will be hired to work the pool area watching and assisting those swimming, Turnage said. In previous years, the city had one or two people doing that work.

The city’s parks and recreation department received a $5,600 grant from the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation for a new chairlift at the Northside Pool. It will help those with disabilities get into the pool, Turnage said.

“It’s exciting news for us,” she said. “The old one is about 10 years old.”

The chairlift will be ordered soon, but because of the national supply-chain delay issues, Turnage said she didn’t know when it would arrive.

The city is planning a movie night and a music night at the pool.

Those who want to reserve the pool for special gatherings can call the department at 330-742-8711.

The original Northside Pool opened in 1939 and was demolished in 2006. The new pool opened in 2007.

It’s the only public pool left in the city. At one time, Youngstown had six.

Borts Pool on the West Side was last used in 2008 but had to shut down a number of times during its final years of operations because of mechanical problems. It was filled with water in 2009 but never opened because of structural issues with the pool and the city’s financial situation. It was demolished in 2014.