Westwood Pool splashed back open Thursday for the first time in more than six years, drawing dozens of Southwest Memphis residents to the nearly 50-year-old facility for a celebration that included free beach towels, goodie bags, and Italian ice from Artreanna's. The long-shuttered pool at 810 Western Park Drive had sat dry since 2020, leaving a gap in one of the city's few public cooling spots during peak summer heat.
The reopening caps a winding path through municipal bureaucracy, according to FOX13 Memphis, which reported that Memphis Parks Director Justice Bolden addressed the crowd gathered for the occasion. Bolden told attendees that students may have returned to the classroom more than a week ago, but summer fun does not have to stop, according to the outlet's report. The pool has operated under an end-of-summer schedule since reopening, running Tuesday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., a schedule Memphis Parks set specifically to accommodate students already back in school before closing for the season on September 5.
How the City Found the Money to Finish the Job
Getting Westwood Pool to this point required more than just repairs — it required a funding fix. The Memphis City Council approved a resolution in February reallocating $148,519.80 from eight completed Accelerate Memphis capital projects specifically to cover repairs at the pool, per city council records. The maneuver followed a formal re-bid procurement notice the city issued in June 2025 seeking contractors for the pool's demolition and renovation work, a process that had already dragged out the facility's closure by years.
Westwood Pool is one piece of a much larger puzzle. The facility falls under a citywide deferred maintenance initiative covering 28 municipal community centers and recreational facilities managed under contract by MFA Program Management, underscoring how widespread the backlog of aging park infrastructure has become across Memphis. The pool's six-year closure reflects that broader pattern of delayed fixes rippling through the city's recreational facilities.
A Second Aquatic Comeback for Memphis Neighborhoods
Westwood's reopening follows a similar milestone in North Memphis, where the indoor Bickford Aquatic Center reopened in June after a major renovation following its September 2024 closure, as reported by the Tri-State Defender. That project emphasized year-round access and community water safety education, giving Memphis two restored aquatic facilities in different neighborhoods within a couple of months of each other.
Anyone hoping to swim at Westwood or any other city pool first has to clear a registration hurdle. Memphis Parks requires visitors to sign up for a free membership profile online and then visit a community center in person to obtain a printed membership card, a system the department put in place to manage capacity and verify local residency, according to Memphis Parks.
Staffing the Pools Amid a National Lifeguard Crunch
Keeping pools like Westwood open also depends on having enough trained staff on deck. Memphis Parks hosted a celebration brunch this month for its Junior Lifeguard Program, graduating teenagers ages 14 to 17 trained in professional lifesaving skills, part of a workforce pipeline meant to head off the kind of nationwide lifeguard shortages that have delayed pool openings elsewhere.
The stakes for keeping neighborhood pools running go beyond recreation. As La Prensa Latina has noted, the return of public outdoor pools in Memphis comes amid Mid-South heat advisories, with local temperatures regularly reaching the mid-90s and heat index values topping 105 degrees — conditions that make free public pools a vital relief point for residents without private air conditioning or swimming access.
A Park With Roots in Southwest Memphis History
Westwood Pool sits inside the 16.2-acre Westwood Park, a hub that also includes a half-mile walking trail, outdoor basketball courts, a playground, and an indoor community center serving as a central recreational gathering spot for the surrounding Southwest Memphis neighborhood. That community center next to the pool was renamed in January 2001 to honor Charles E. Powell, a former Director of Park Services for the City of Memphis who died in 2000, according to the Westwood Neighborhood Association.
Westwood's return is part of a wider pattern of Memphis reinvesting in long-neglected public spaces, a trend Hoodline has tracked at Mud Island and in capital spending on Ida B. Wells Plaza. For now, Westwood Pool has about three weeks left in its first season back before it closes again on September 5, giving Southwest Memphis families a short but welcome window to make up for lost summers.
