Updated Aug. 10 with additional information from Park and Rec

The Electric City Water Park is closing down for the season on Aug. 17.

There were plans to operate the water park for two additional weekends, but that’s off due to the lifeguard shortage, according to the Great Falls Park and Recreation Department.

The water park will be open noon to 6 p.m. daily through Aug. 17, the date that was initially planned as the end of daily operations with the hope of the two following weekends of operation.

Water Tower Pool closing for the season due to lifeguard shortage

Jaycee Pool will close for the season on Aug. 10. Until then, hours are 1-5:45 p.m. daily.

Water Tower pool was closed for the summer due to the lifeguard shortage.

State law requires certified lifeguards on duty during the operation of any municipally owned or operated swimming pool.

Jaycee Pool opens June 16; Water Tower Pool not opening due to staffing shortage

In a July release, city officials said they have attempted to recruit and train lifeguards, but haven’t been able to staff Water Tower Pool at the level required for safe operation.

“One of the ongoing staffing challenges is the seasonal nature of our workforce—many lifeguards are high school or college students who are unavailable for the full summer due to early fall school schedules, family vacations, or other commitments. These mid-season departures of lifeguards make it difficult to maintain consistent, code-compliant coverage throughout the season,” according to the city.

With limited staffing, the city has prioritized available resources to the most used pools and in recent years, Water Tower had the lowest attendance of the city’s aquatic facilities, according to the city.

The Water Tower splash pad remained available for the summer. It was on a motion sensor so it didn’t run constantly, which was confusing to some, Jessica Compton, interim Park and Rec director, told The Electric. A person would have to walk up the sidewalk to the pool for it to turn on.

City officials said the shortage is not unique to Great Falls and is occuring nationwide.

Billings Parks and Recreation said this week that it was closing city pools early due to a lifeguard shortage, according to the Billings Gazette.

It’s not the first summer that the city has experienced a lifeguard shortage.

Electric City Water Park closed June 7 due to lack of lifeguards [2023]

In 2023, the Electric City Water Park closed for a day due to a lifeguard staffing shortage.

Water Tower, Jaycee pools close for season Aug. 4 due to lifeguard shortage [2019]

In 2019, both the Water Tower and Jaycee pools closed early for the season due to a lifeguard shortage.

During their Aug. 5 work session, Commissioner Rick Tryon asked about lifeguards, saying he heard someone had applied and was turned down.

Jessica Compton, interim Park and Rec director, said that they’ve hired lifeguards all summer and they have to pass the certification course and a background check.

She said the department hired four last week to finish out the season, “we just don’t have the capacity of guards coming in.”

City Manager Greg Doyon told Tryon it’s a personnel issue and the person in question should come talk to him or human resources.

Tryon said he wasn’t “trying to imply something nefarious,” but was trying to understand why someone would be turned now if the city needed lifeguards.

Compton said the city had been enforcing new standards this year and that Water Tower Pool also had maintenance issues, and was drained once they determined not to operate it this summer.

Compton told The Electric that previously, lifeguard had to pay their certification course fee, leading to more accountability for people taking and completing the course.

After some feedback that the city couldn’t have a lifeguard shortage if the course was free, Compton said commissioners agreed and the city has changed the policy.

Park and Rec is now reimbursing all staff that paid the course fee this summer when they complete three months of the summer pool season in good standing, meaning they weren’t terminated or fired before the summer’s end.

The fee covers the certification course that includes lifeguard, CPR/first aid, plus AED and BP training.

The fee helped offset the cost of teaching the beginning and advanced course, plus staff time to get supervisory staff certified or recertified as lifeguard instructors, Compton said.

Compton told The Electric that to be a lifeguard:

• a person has to apply and pass a background check, even if a returning lifeguard
• interview and pass a pre-skills test for lifeguarding and even if they’re currently certified, must pass a skills test provided by a city-certified lifeguard instructor
• complete/pass the lifeguard certification course

Compton said that the certification courses are held in-house but Park and Rec didn’t have enough applicants that could pass the course to fill vacancies and cover vacations at all outdoor pool facilities and were unable to open Water Tower pool.

Sometimes, she said, a lifeguard who was certified the previous summer reapplies but is unable to pass the skills assessment and Park and Rec can’t hire them.