LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. — It's the end of an era for the pool at Lake Worth Community High School.
Over the past week, crews have been busy demolishing what was once a community staple.
WATCH BELOW: 'Please, we need an aquatic center for the public,' swim coach Sally Welsh tells WPTV's Joel Lopez
WPTV's Joel Lopez reported late last year that maintenance issues and an iguana infestation forced the School District of Palm Beach County to shut down the 60+ year-old pool indefinitely.
Lopez is tracking the developments and listening to the community as they voice their concerns for change.
With the summer heat rolling in, residents are lamenting the absence of public pools in Lake Worth Beach for cooling off or learning to swim.
On Thursday, WPTV witnessed leveling trucks and demolition crews flattening the lot that used to be the Lake Worth Community High School pool.
"It's life threatening, it's terrifying, especially in this community, it’s a huge Hispanic population, and certain people need it more than others,” shared Lake Worth Beach native Elead Oatway. “I have to drive my 2-year-old to Palm Beach State College for swim lessons. And it costs finances. If someone didn’t have the financial resources to get into a pool, that should be totally unacceptable. There should be free resources."
In December, Lopez learned that nobody has swam in the pool since early 2020 before COVID.
Swim coach Sally Welsh, said she taught at the Lake Worth Community High School's pool until that point and reflected on the deep loss.
WATCH PREVIOUS COVERAGE BELOW: Swimming pool at Lake Worth High School shut down indefinitely
"Her grandma went to school there and learned to swim, and her daughter her daughter and now it won't be there for this child to be on the swim team, water polo, all the classes that they had there," said Welsh. "It's a terrible loss there's nowhere to go."
Welsh used to see up to 400 students a year, but now she fears that private lessons will be the only option available, raising concerns about potential increases in drowning statistics among low-income families in the area.
The closest pools, according to Welsh, are the Lake Lytal Family Aquatic Center on Gun Club Road in West Palm Beach, the pool behind Santaluces High School in Lantana, and the Boca Raton High School pool.
She also taught lessons at the municipal pool by the beach, which shut down nearly 10 years ago, and counting.
"Please, please do something, please, we need an aquatic center for the public," said Welsh.
In February, Superintendent Mike Burke assured the community that they are working with Parks and Recreation to ensure Lake Worth High students have access to a public pool.
He expressed his support for possibly partnering with the City of Lake Worth to create an aquatic center for families in the community.
City of Lake Worth Beach officials told WPTV there will be a special commission meeting on June 26 in which a company was being considered to be hired to do a study about the beach complex and pool.
“Swimming saves lives, you need as much as you can for anybody from 6 months old until they start swimming. Even adults don’t get the adequate swim lessons,” Oatway emphasized.
WPTV is working to get answers on what's next for the plot of land at Lake Worth Community High School where the pool was located.
