Indianapolis could be swimming toward a future with far fewer traditional outdoor pools. Indy Parks, which operates more than a dozen outdoor pools across the city, is weighing whether splash pads should replace some of those aging facilities as staffing shortages and deferred maintenance pile up.
The agency is currently assessing the condition of its pools and will determine how to proceed once that review wraps up, according to Axios. Indy Parks Director Brittany Crone told a City-County Council committee that the department is considering reducing its outdoor pool footprint, the outlet reported. Crone also said many cities facing similar pressures are moving toward more indoor pools, though she noted new indoor facilities would exceed what Indy Parks can currently afford.
The tension playing out at the council level has already shown up on the ground this year. Sahm Park Pool, one of the city's largest outdoor pools at 400,000 gallons, never opened for the 2026 season. Indy Parks attributed the closure to severe lifeguard staffing shortages and a park manager vacancy that stretched over a year, according to Indy Parks & Recreation. Sahm requires more operational staff than any other facility in the city's aquatics system.
A Budget Squeezed From Every Direction
Money is a big part of the equation. Per Axios, Indy Parks' overall budget totals $53 million, with $2.5 million earmarked for its aquatics system next year as the 2027 city budget moves through approval, expected next month. That follows a tight 2026 operating budget of $33.3 million — a $70,000 reduction from 2025 — that forced department leaders to trim contract and supply spending, as reported by Mirror Indy.
Staffing has been just as stubborn a problem as money. In March, Mayor Joe Hogsett and Indy Parks set starting pay for seasonal lifeguards at $15 an hour and pool managers at $16.50 an hour, with sign-on bonuses up to $500 to draw applicants. The department was trying to fill roughly 400 summer positions in 2026 after hiring 282 lifeguards the year before, the same report notes. Even with those incentives, Indy Parks continues to struggle to staff pools with seasonal workers, and Sahm's closure was a direct result of that shortage, per Axios.
Splash pads sidestep the staffing problem entirely because they don't require lifeguards, and they can stay open later into the season than a supervised pool. Indianapolis's splash pads run daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and are free to the public, compared with the $3 to $6 daily admission at outdoor pools, according to the Indianapolis Recorder. The city currently manages 15 indoor and outdoor pools alongside nearly 20 splash pads, with a multi-year master plan aiming to grow the splash pad network to 27 locations. New splash pads at Chapel Hill Park and Dubarry Park opened in 2026, and the network's expansion has continued even as pool budgets tighten.
Where Capital Money Can and Can't Go
Indianapolis has no shortage of capital cash for new amenities — the challenge is that it can't be spent keeping existing pools running. A landmark $80 million grant awarded by the Lilly Endowment in late 2022, an amount 14 times the department's annual capital budget, has helped fund physical upgrades across 42 city parks through 2026. Combined with American Rescue Plan Act dollars, those grants have powered $150 million in park upgrades, per Indy Parks & Recreation.
But philanthropic and federal capital funds can't legally or practically cover ongoing costs like lifeguard wages, daily maintenance, or water chemical treatments, the same source notes. That gap explains why Washington Park could get a $3.5 million renovation adding a splash pad, playground, and shelter in August 2025 — funded by the Lilly Endowment grant — even as the department's day-to-day pool operating budget shrank. Washington Park was once the original site of the Indianapolis Zoo before it moved downtown in the 1980s, and Hoodline reported on the funding for its splash pad revival back in May.
Not every closed pool is a budget or staffing casualty. Willard Park Pool has sat closed through both the 2025 and 2026 summer seasons because its adjacent property was needed for construction access tied to IndyGo's Blue Line bus rapid transit project, according to Indy Parks & Recreation. It's the only city pool sidelined by transit construction rather than money or workforce shortages, and most of Indy Parks' outdoor pools date back to the 1980s, according to Axios, leaving the system carrying decades of wear at once.
Aging Basins and a Regional Pattern
Age isn't a small factor either. Broad Ripple Park Pool, one of the city's oldest outdoor pools, once hosted the 1924 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, where Johnny Weissmuller won the 100-meter freestyle, according to Friends of Broad Ripple Park. Aging outdoor pools require costly structural repairs to keep water clear and safe, and Midwest weather takes a major toll on that aging infrastructure, Axios reported.
Indianapolis isn't alone in confronting this math. In July, Overland Park, Kansas, voted to retire two neighborhood pools over chronic leaks and rising maintenance costs, part of a broader Midwest pattern of cities reevaluating mid-century outdoor pools, as Hoodline covered in July. Splash pads cost less to run and require less staff than traditional pools, but they can't replace pools for lap swimming, youth swim lessons, or competitive aquatics — a limitation that will shape how far Indy Parks can lean into the splash pad model.
For now, the decision sits with city officials and the City-County Council as they work through the 2027 budget, with Indianapolis Public Schools students back in class since late July or early August and the 2026 pool season already behind them. Indy Parks' completed assessment will determine which pools reopen next summer and which get converted, a decision that will land squarely on families in neighborhoods that depend on their local outdoor pool.
