Generations of Des Moines residents have flocked to their neighborhood swimming pools for fun and to find relief from the heat, especially during potentially deadly heat waves. For almost 90 years, destinations have included the historic Birdland Pool at 300 Holcomb Ave in Highland Park, which opened to the general public on May 31, 1936. The original pool closed on Aug. 18, 1982, but was replaced and reopened June 3, 1984.
Considered an iconic landmark, the 50-meter pool has eight lanes and is equipped with diving boards and water basketball hoops. For 41 years, the Des Moines Swimming Federation (DMSF) has hosted an annual swim meet at Birdland, sanctioned by USA Swimming, the national governing body for competitive swimming. It draws hundreds of swimmers from around Iowa every summer.
But as the City of Des Moines struggles with budget shortfalls, Birdland Pool has faced the threat of closure.
Trying to bridge a $17 million gap in the city’s budget, Des Moines City Manager Scott Sanders proposed closing Birdland after the 2025 aquatics season, citing “consistent low attendance, high repair costs” and the construction of the Reichardt Community Recreation Center, which will have an indoor pool.
Des Moines Parks and Recreation director Ben Page told KCCI News that Birdland has filtration and mechanical issues which make for costly repairs and upgrades. If the pool closes, the city would save an estimated $200,000 in the budget and upwards of $3 million in repairs.
DMSF board president Stacey Artikov told Little Village in an email that Birdland Pool is “an essential home” to the organization and local swimmers.
“Its closure would not only impact our team but also the broader community that relies on it for lessons, lap swimming and summer fun,” Artikov said. “There are very few pools of this size in the metro, and the ability to train, compete and build a love for the sport in such a well-run outdoor facility has been invaluable to our athletes. Our team has experienced firsthand the incredible atmosphere and dedication of the Birdland staff.”
A Change.org petition titled “Save Birdland Pool from Closure” has received over 2,300 signatures, as of print time. In the comments section, residents voice concerns about the lack of accessibility at other local pools.
“I grew up going to Birdland Pool,” Ramona writes. “After all, I did not have transportation to get to other pools. It is the same for children now. They can walk to Birdland Pool. Is the city going to provide free transportation to and from other city pools for children?”
That point is echoed by Stefanie. “There are children who don’t have access to transportation for other pools. I’m tired of watching the suburban expansion on steroids while city officials strip the urban centers of grocery stores, small businesses, places for children to be safe and close to their homes.”
The petition’s author, Liz Weinheimer, grew up on the North Side of Des Moines in the Union Park area. She swam for the North High School Swim Team and the North Side Otters Swim Team. She also worked as a lifeguard at Birdland Pool. “My grandparents even used to swim at Birdland when they were young,” Weinheimer told Little Village in an email.
Besides volunteering at Otter swim meets, Weinheimer is a certified USA Swimming official and works most USA swim meets. Carrying on the family tradition, Liz Weinheimer’s daughter, a sophomore at North High School, is a member of the North High Swim Team and has been on the Otters since she was 6 years old.
“Birdland has been on the ‘chopping block’ for years now,” Weinheimer said. “Even when I was working there, it was also rumored that Birdland was going to close.”
The potential closure is a striking parallel to the city’s proposed closing of the Lonny Kerman Natatorium in 2018. North Side residents and the broader swimming community rallied to save it.
“The North Side feels as though they are often picked on as a path of least resistance — which is not true, as the survey shows,” Weinheimer said. “It honestly feels as though the North Side gets things taken from it quite often and in today’s world, swimming is sadly one of the first sports to go.”
Pools typically run at a loss, as they are expensive to maintain, which makes them an “easy target” for budget cuts and privatization, no matter how storied their history.
The Camp Dodge swimming pool in Johnston, built in 1922, was one of the world’s largest swimming pools until it closed in 2001.
“Low attendance is a farce as they did not take full pool utilization into account,” Weinheimer said about Birdland. “There are two to three teams that utilize the pool outside of traditional pool hours. When I discussed this with the representatives at the budget meeting, I was told that they only used the hours of operation attendance for utilization, which is not the correct way to approach that.”
Challenging the city’s assessment, Weinheimer would like to know if they counted the adults who use the pool before traditional hours, swim lessons and diving lessons, adding, “I would be interested to see more numbers of all the area pools.”
Little Village contacted DMPR and Aquatics to inquire as to whether or not these factors were taken into account, but did not receive a response.
“Why was the community not approached to maybe provide ideas to help with utilization? Or to see what other avenues we can find to help Birdland attempt to close the financial gap?” Weinheimer said.
After public outcry, Sanders rescinded his original decision — for the time being. On Feb. 24, Sanders amended his budget proposal to allow the pool to stay open through 2026 while saving an estimated $180,000. The amended proposal includes:
- Rotating monthly closures of Des Moines’ five major aquatics facilities, where each facility would close for one week at a time at least twice a year, saving an estimated $100,000 annually.
- Closing the Reichardt Community Recreation Center during the summer when outdoor pools are open, saving an estimated $40,000 annually.
- Ending the Neighborhood Association Capacity Building Grant, with estimated savings of $40,000.
“The recent proposal to explore funding solutions is encouraging, and we hope the city continues to recognize the significance of Birdland and other public pools,” Artikov writes. “These facilities provide so much value to so many in our community.”
City officials hosted two public information sessions on Feb. 25 and 26. The city council hearing for the 2026 fiscal budget, which goes into effect on July 1, is set for April 7.
“I appreciate the effort that the city manager is showing to keep the pool open after hearing the community’s feedback,” Weinheimer said. “I know that this will all happen again as soon as the 2027 budget is being discussed, so we need to find longterm solutions for the capital costs and not just the operational costs. We need to come together as a community and city to help alleviate these issues.”
For young people, especially those without money, public places such as swimming pools are disappearing at a disturbing rate, leaving fewer spots to hang out where it can’t be considered loitering or trespassing on private property.
“I am strongly in favor of keeping Birdland open,” Des Moines City Council member Chris Coleman wrote in an email to Little Village. “I am proud of and moved by the young people who attended budget hearings, made signs, wrote letters and changed the debate.”
Coleman’s “50-year love affair” with Birdland started as a kid when he went to the pool with his parents. He now takes his own children to Birdland, where they’ve graduated “to the big pool and diving board.” As they got older, they swam for the Otters and lifeguarded at the pool.
“I believe in positive supervised activities for youth, and Birdland provides it,” Coleman writes. “While it is located in Ward 2, residents I serve in Ward 1 are the closest neighbors. This great pool serves people in every quadrant of the city. Linda Westergaard and I are going to work to build attendance in 2025 so we can easily justify it [staying] open for a long time to come.”
Public pools aren’t just amenities, but harm reduction tools. “The Birdland area is unique in that the river is right there, flowing through the community,” Weinheimer explained. “That area also is home to a lot of minorities, which statistics show that unfortunately minorities drown at a much higher rate. We should be making every effort that every child knows life-savings skills and has the awareness and understanding of water safety. The river is very dangerous — a lot do not understand the impacts of the currents, which leads to drownings.”
Aquatics activities not only help improve and develop individual mental and physical health, but also social skills. Many people cannot afford memberships to private gyms or fitness centers, let alone transportation to visit pools outside the area in which they live. Pool closures, as well as shuttering public parks, disproportionately impact marginalized communities.
What’s more, aquatic activities are the only athletic and fitness options for those with certain disabilities. Lifts and especially zero-depth entry systems — a ramp or wading area that offers gradual submersion from the pool’s edge — are more accessible than stairs. (Birdland and Ashworth pools do not have zero-depth entry, while Teachout and Nahas do, as do Northwest Aquatic Center and Valley View Aquatic Center.)
“While swimming can be of great social, mental and physical benefit to people without disabilities, it can have just as much, if not more, beneficial impact for people with disabilities,” according to The National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability.
“Pools are not a money-making venture, they are a lifesaving venture,” Weinheimer writes. “That is how they should be viewed. I would hope that we can all work together to see that all the city pools continue to have a very important, safe space within our communities. Continue to create initiatives and ideas that allow our children and families to use these pools more. Sometimes, you do have to spend money to make money.”
There are many swimming pools in Iowa built during the Great Depression through the Works Progress Administration under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” to create jobs and to invest in the wellbeing of those communities. Some wish to bring that spirit of rejuvenation back to the 21st century.
If more pools participated in early morning and evening hours (until at least 7 p.m.), they suggest, this could increase attendance, as it wouldn’t conflict with traditional working hours.
“We need the community to continue to use Birdland and all the area pools,” Weinheimer writes. “Make a conscious effort throughout the summer to show the city that those pools are important. Come up with ideas to better use the pools. If you have any ideas, communicate them with me and I will get them to the right areas. We need everyone on board with this to make sure our children have a safe place to hang out.”
Community members are invited to provide feedback on the budget online before the budgeting process concludes in April. The Des Moines City Council is scheduled to hold the final public hearing on the budget on Monday, April 7.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s April 2025 issue.
