No More Night Swim
Barton Springs Pool quietly changes hours, cutting out night swim
Barton Springs Pool will now only be open until 9 pm.
Update: After pushback from the community, the city's chief communications officer has walked back the closure and stated that it was never approved, despite a sign posted at Barton Springs. She emphasizes that the decision will not be made without notice, but leaves the door open to return to it in the future.
"Since the summer season is upon us and we prefer to provide residents with advanced notice on such changes, the City will not be implementing changes to pool hours at this time," King told KUT. "However, as we prepare for next year’s budget, we must also prepare for tougher conversations across all department services."
---
Austin's nighttime swimmers are losing a time-honored tradition at Barton Springs Pool. A sign posted on location, verified by KVUE, states that starting June 1, the pool will close at 9 pm every night except Thursdays.
The new hours as listed on the sign and on the website are: Daily except Thursdays, 5 am to 9 pm, swim at your own risk from 5-8 am; Thursdays closed for cleaning from 9 am to 10 pm, swim at your own risk from 5-9 am.
This closing time may still sound late to day swimmers, but it cuts an hour off of the less popular, but deeply treasured night swim. It also means that after the longest summer days, there may only be a half-hour of dusk or less to enjoy the pool.
Especially on hot days, Barton Springs Pool and the surrounding lawn can be packed with swimmers, people relaxing on towels, visitors playing music, practicing handstands, and almost anything else that happens outside of the paid section (except eating). It gets chaotic, so some Austinites love an opportunity to stop by when things quiet down.
There is also an Old Austin culture associated with the late-night hours. Some locals visit religiously as a way to end their day, and tourists are rarely in-the-know about this tradition. Not only are these locals losing a nightly routine — if they can't shift it an hour earlier, that is — but they'll no longer be connected to the same community members they expect to see when they visit.
The note posted does not explain why hours have changed.
