From the Aquatic Director

Please remember that masks are required at the pool, up to the point of being ready to jump in. Children 3 and under are not required to wear a mask. We will meet you at the door and provide you one if you forget. If you require support on this, please email Melissa, our Director, to discuss alternatives. 

The staff are just here to enforce the rules, they aren’t looking to pick a fight. We are required to enforce the rules by the Oregon Health Authority to keep our license. If we lose the license, we will be made to close, because our insurance won’t support us... you get the point. This is why some things are not open as they used to be; why parties can’t happen and numbers are restricted. We are at the mercy of OHA. We are doing the best we can. 

Please spread the word and help keep all of our swimmers safe. 

Thank you!

Melissa Georgesen, Director
Melissa@MolallaAquaticCenter.com

Kids clumped in together, instructors working in close proximity and what you can’t see are all the parents, grandparents and siblings sitting on the deck.

We are doing our best in our new world to navigate the restrictions are requirements.

I know you are all eager to get back at it and get your kids in lessons. Believe me, so are we.

Here is the reality. We lost over half of our staff over this past year, including swimming lessons instructors. We were unable to train new people while shut down. We just re-opened.

It truly was a decision I had to make: open with limited staff, or delay opening to train and hire new staff.

The pool has limited space, so each program bumps the other to make room. To have our Aqua Zumba Water Fitness class means little to no room for a swimming lesson. The scheduling gets really creative!

I do plan to roll out Parent & Child Aquatics first- the instructor can socially distance and one parent will be in the water teaching their own child. It will be the same parent each class and we won’t be able to have family come watch (we have to count every person).

The older kids who can swim without mom or dad can have their instructor on deck teaching them. The other group is the kids who will need some hands on- those littles will need a parent to jump in and teach with our instructor. I hope you are feeling up to it! For those of you with multiple kids, we will have a plan for that.

That is just a small taste for what’s to come. Private lessons will be offered as we can fit them in as well. Hang in there, we will get these up and running as soon as possible.

-Melissa 

We open our doors Monday, March 1st!

In order to protect our staff and patrons we will be following the guidelines from Oregon Health Authority, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and Clackamas County. 

Drop-ins are not allowed
Participants MUST register for ALL Programs

We ask, if you are not able to make your reserved time, please contact the Front Desk 24 hours in advance. This will allow us time to notify the next person on our waiting list. We know life gets in the way, so even if it's less than 24 hours please email us and let us know because space is limited.

Come to the pool dressed to swim; locker rooms are limited at this time. All participants will be screened prior to entering the building. Thank you for your understanding as we walk through this new process together.

 What do you need to know?

• A mask is required to enter the building.
• No early access. Come ready to swim.
• There is one-way traffic when entering and exiting the building.
• If you are bringing a caregiver, please let the staff know ahead of time.
• Reservations are required prior to entering the building.
• You should receive an email receipt when making reservations online.

Confused?

Please call us and we will help you navigate the waters.(503) 759-7665 (POOL) 

The, “why aren’t you open” like (insert any pool here) post.

I always feel like I am saying the same thing over and over. In the fall, we were told we could open and then the fires hit. Last week, we were told we could open and the ice hit.

I am tired. 

But also, I want to take a moment to speak directly to those of you who are frustrated we are not open to swim.

This last weekend, ice formed on our system that regulates the temperature and humidity on the pool deck. Then it melted into the unit and fried the circuit panel, among other parts. Whatever temperature it is outside, it is the same inside. This is not ok and bottom line, it’s not safe for you to breathe when it’s not working properly. It’s also miserable on deck temperature wise. This week I had it inspected and I ordered parts (on rush no less) to get here next week. Fingers crossed this does the trick and we are back up by Friday. 

Our staff were laid off last March, brought back in October and laid off again in November. Their employment has been a roller coaster. As I work to bring them back again, I have to make sure every thing is covered. I know this is not your issue, but I really do my best to have the best staff for our pool and take care of them first. 

I plan to open on Monday, March 1. No, I am not taking any reservations until I know our pool will be ready. No, you can’t book a birthday party yet. Hang in there and watch for the post & email that gives you all that you need to know. I am not even going to ask for your patience (I know mine has run out), instead, I am just telling you how it has to be.

-New Lifeguard Course happening soon. I will post details when it’s all ready for sign ups.
-Updated Schedule getting posted this week.
-Very similar restrictions like what we had in the Fall. The guidance hasn’t changed much. 

If you made it until the end of the post, thank you. I can’t talk a long time about the pool and what’s going on. Hope your family is having a good weekend after last! 

 Melissa Georgesen, Director 

Wednesday, February 17 at 9am, (and going as long as possible) bring your family in and take a warm shower. For free. 9am- 5pm (maybe later) 

No reservations. Show up and we will let you know how long the wait will be. Call first and check the wait time. Bring your stuff, let us know if you need any supplies. We will do our best to get you what you need.

I chose not to do reservations because my phone isn’t even working reliably. Sometimes the best we can do is show up and see if there is a spot. I have staff coming in to clean and supervise. We are still living in our COVID world, with real restrictions. We are not an Emergency Operations Center, and we are not setup to be a warming shelter. I am so sorry we can’t do more. We will help connect you with other services happening in town. 

You will need to wear a mask when coming in. Take it off when you are in the locker room. Families will use the same locker room, we will give you as much privacy as possible.

The pool, the classroom and part of the lobby are closed. Only one family per locker room, and we will have to enforce time to get everyone clean and warm. Bring your phone chargers for when you are in the locker room; we can’t have too many folks congregating in the lobby.

Please share this post and let people know they are welcome. Please bring your water jugs and fill up for your needs at home. It isn’t much, but it’s what we can do for now. I will work on having staff each day- check here for updates.

Hang in there everyone, 

Melissa Georgesen, Director

Hi Swim Family,

We just received amazing news! Clackamas County is being moved off of "Extreme Risk" and into "High Risk"! This is great news as it means we can start the re-opening process. The Board of Directors will have an Emergency Meeting next week on Tuesday night (Feb 16), so I can outline the plan to re-open. I am contacting our wonderful staff and bringing them all back. As you know, our hours and programs are solely dependent on the employee's availability to work. We haven't been able to train and hire new employees in this last shut down, so we are looking forward to doing that in the months to come.

As always, thank you for your support, kind words and your patience. I will be in touch with more information next week.

Melissa, Director

I know all of you are eager to hear what our status is in regards to reopening. While the 2 week State wide freeze ends today, new metrics have been released that prohibit our opening at this time.

The counties are now separate and are placed in categories of “extreme”, “high” and “moderate”. 

When a county is in “extreme” risk, like Clackamas is, we cannot have the pool open. When our county is moved to “moderate” risk, we will be able to open!

We are waiting for our county to be placed in the “high” risk category. We anticipate opening as soon as we get the good news! 

Please drop your questions below, I am happy to help answer them!

Melissa, Director

Our thoughts are with the firefighters, first responders, police, PGE personnel and all volunteers out there fighting fires and helping people evacuate in our community. 

Please stay safe everyone. Our hearts are with those directly affected by the fires.