SAVE BUDLONG POOL

In 2023, Cranston Forward proudly partnered with community members in a fight to save the historic Budlong Pool from destruction.

After failing to budget for the Budlong pool for the first two summers of his administration, in spring, 2023 Mayor Hopkins announced a plan to demolish and replace it with a much smaller pool designed mainly for small children—at a cost of millions to Cranston taxpayers. The Mayor did not seek any public input, sidelined the City Council and misrepresented the condition of the pool and the real rationale for his plan. In July, 2023, to quell public opposition, the Mayor obtained a highly flawed assessment of the pool’s condition from the engineer who was already hired to design the Mayor’s expensive new pool. Ultimately, the Mayor ignored Council objections, widespread public opposition and calls for a transparent process that would include an evaluation by a disinterested expert and a public dialogue about the community’s recreational priorities and announced in October, 2023 that he was going forward with his plan.

This episode revealed a level of dysfunction in how Cranston government operates, as well as the Mayor’s lack of transparency and utter disregard for his constituents.

While we did not stop the Mayor’s unfortunate plan, the good news is that our campaign brought together Cranstonians from different neighborhoods, backgrounds and political stripes in a common fight for something important to all of us. We made new connections with neighbors, learned some tools of grassroots organizing and exercised the muscles of democratic participation. Let’s keep it going!

A Cherished Cranston Institution

Budlong Pool was one of the rare places that brought together people from all the city’s neighborhoods. Generations of Cranston residents have treasured memories of escaping the heat with a Del’s and a plunge, getting some invigorating exercise, meeting up with friends, or teaching their kids to swim at Budlong.

Budlong was one of more than 1,000 public pools built by the Works Progress Administration, the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration’s massive program of investment in public infrastructure that pulled the country out of the Depression. Many large urban pools like Budlong were shut down in the 1960s and 70s by municipalities opposed to desegregation. While wealthier and white families fled to the suburbs, joined private clubs or built backyard pools, poor and working-class families simply lost access to pools. More recently, many public pools have fallen victim to anti-tax sentiment and the drive to disinvest from and privatize public goods.

Budlong Pool survived these trends for 80 years, and each summer Cranston celebrated its reopening.

Recently, there has been renewed attention to how important public pools are—for building community and for public health, among other things.

Learn More About Public Pools

What Happened to Budlong?

A Timeline of Events

The following chronology is based on public records, including internal Administration documents obtained through the Public Record Act. A complaint is pending with the RI Attorney General due to the Administration’s delayed responses and apparent failure to produce some requested records.

2018

Fung Administration invests $250,000 on a custom pool liner to save on annual expense of power-washing, repairing and re-painting the pool.

2019

Budlong Pool continues to meet state licensing requirements and operates through without incident.

2020

Budlong Pool closed because of COVID pandemic.

June 2021

The Administration obtains (but does not disclose) an estimate from New England Aquatics (the company serviced the pool for years) that the pool can be readied to reopen for less than $90,000. Administration informs Council the pool cannot open for the season because no funds were budgeted. The Administration tells Council it did not budget for maintenance after assessing the pool is not need of extensive repairs, and says it is committed to reopening the pool in 2022.

December, 2021

Administration holds internal discussions about using ARPA funds for a make over of the Budlong complex.

January, 2022

The Mayor’s staff are directed to begin working on the pool project but to keep it confidential.

February, 2022

Administration solicits proposals from architectural firms the Federal Hill Group (FHG) and Saccoccia Assocs. for the Budlong pool replacement and makeover.

March, 2022

In internal discussions, Administration decides to avoid seeking ARPA money for the project, because it would require Council approval. The administration begins pursuing federal grants for the stated purpose of demolishing and replacing the pool with something substantially smaller, to make room for other uses of the complex. In a April letter to Senator Reed Mayor Hopkins writes that the pool has been “closed for 3 years due to mechanical and electric issues and deferred major maintenance [and] a damaged motor and pump,” directly contradicting the information it has and what it has told the Council. The Mayor’s letter further states “Cranston’s new vision is to repurpose the pool by reducing it in size to allow for additional space to develop an elderly wellness center to promote health and recreation for our seniors and an ADA handicapped accessible playground.”

April-June, 2022

Administration receives feasibility study from FHG describing some serious problems with the pool but stating that for up to $2.8 million the pool and bathhouse (which is in disrepair and not ADA-compliant) can be completely rehabbed. (Former Parks and Rec Director Tony Liberatore, who managed the pool through 2020, has criticized the FHG as containing many inaccuracies and overstating problems with the pool in order to sell the Mayor’s plan.) exaggerating the pool’s issues.

At monthly Council meetings, the Administration repeatedly provides evasive and incomplete answers about its plans for the pool.

July 2022

Council unanimously passes a resolution calling on the Mayor to use Cranston’s American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) money to fix and re-open Budlong as soon as possible.

August-December, 2022

Council requests monthly pool updates, at which the Administration repeatedly projects that the pool will be re-opened by the following summer, and is evasive and unclear about whether it is pursuing renovation or replacement of the pool. It does not disclose its real agenda, to downsize the pool to make room for other amenities.

January 2023

Mayor announces in the press plans to replace Budlong pool and add amenities at a cost of $7 million. At the January Council meeting Administration provides no further details about its plans and is unable to explain the project financing.

February 2023

Administration presents Council with details of its $7 million plan for a 2/3 smaller pool, pickleball courts, splashpad, pergola and picnic tables. The information is greeted by members of both parties with questions about why the pool cannot be fixed. (Councilors appear not to remember the FHG report from the previous April stating the pool is fixable.) Several councilors reiterate their desire for the least expensive and most expeditious option to reopening the pool. Council President Marino states “we don’t need all these bells and whistles. Just a functioning pool.” Although the Administration has two assessments that the pool can be repaired and none to the contrary, the Mayor’s staff tell the Council--falsely—that repairing the pool “was not an option. It’s too dilapidated, it just can’t be done.”

March 2023

The Administration advises the Council that the Mayor “agrees with the will of the Council” and will just build a pool and bathhouse for a cost $3.7 million. Asked if this will be a repair or replacement, Chief of Staff Moretti states “that will be up to the engineer to do it the most cost-effective way,” although the Administration has already sought and received federal grants to replace the pool and has already negotiated an agreement to produce plans.

April 2023

Council tables Mayor’s request for $350,000 for producing architectural and engineering plans.

May 2023

At the May 22 Council meeting, Cranston Forward informs the Council and administration it collected 250 petition signatures the previous day calling for the pool to be repaired and not downsized. The Council amends the Mayor’s proposed 2024 fiscal year budget to designate $4 million in ARPA funds for the pool (to avoid the need to borrow at current high interest rates) and approves the use of up to $350,000 for engineering and architectural designs.

Council member Germain questions the Mayor’s claims that the pool is unfixable, pointing out that this is contradicted by the Mayor’s own consultant’s (FHG’s) report (and by former Parks and Rec Director Tony Liberatore), complains about the lack of transparency and warns that a dramatically smaller pool will not be acceptable to the public. Councilors Ferri and Marino echo Germain. The Chief of Staff Moretti responds “if you want the pool repaired, we’ll do our best to repair it.”

June 22, 2023

Council member Germain asks for a pool update. Despite what he said at the May Council meeting, Moretti states that since the Mayor has not heard objections from anyone other than Germain and "some constituents,” the Mayor will be proceeding with his plan. Councilors Germain, Ferri, Donegan, and Marino reiterate that the Council has repeatedly stated a desire for the most economical, fastest solution and do not support downsizing. Council member Vargas asks that the Council be provided with details about options and costs and be given a chance to weigh in on the decision. Moretti responds that the Administration is open to input.

July 24, 2023

Cranston Forward delivers a petition from over 2,000 Cranston residents calling on the Mayor not to downsize the pool and to obtain a qualified expert assessment of the cost and feasibility of keeping the current pool.

At the Council meeting the same evening, dozens speak against the Mayor’s plan. The Council requests another pool update and Moretti reports that the Mayor has obtained an expert opinion who has pronounced the pool unsalvageable. In fact, the expert is not disinterested, but is the same pool engineering who has already been hired to design the Mayor’s new pool. Council President Marino requests that the Administration make the expert available at the next Council meeting to explain his findings so the Council can understand the situation. Moretti refuses—stating that he Mayor will be presenting the information at a not-yet scheduled public meeting which the Council is welcome to attend “like anyone else.” Moretti further states that the Administration had already “spent plenty of time on this” and will be proceeding with the Mayor’s plan.

August 28, 2023

Dozens of residents pack the Council meeting to express opposition to replacing Budlong pool. Cranston Forward members reveal troubling information discovered through a public record request, that shows the Administration has not been straight with the Council or public.

Council President Marino announces that she has called a special City Council meeting for the time and location of the Mayor’s public forum—which he has scheduled for September 6—because the Mayor refused to cooperate with the Council to ensure members could participate in the forum.

Citing new information uncovered through Cranston Forward’s public record request, Marino says she believes the Council had been misled. Moretti responds evasively to her questions about what information it possesses about the condition of the pool. Several Council members express concern about the information Cranston Forward has obtained and ask to be provided with the documents and a timeline of events so they can understand what has transpired regarding the pool. (The Administration ignores these request, and Cranston Forward later provides all council members with the information.)

September, 2023

Administration presents its Budlong pool at 9/6/23 public forum. Members of the public are allowed 2 minutes to comment or ask questions. The Mayor’s pool engineer states his estimated cost of fixing the pool to be $5-8 million (no breakdown or other explanation of this figure is ever provided.) The largest area of the pool is to be a max depth of 3 ft (excluding swim lanes, which will be 4 ft to 6 ft deep).

October, 2023

Administration announces in the press that his pool project, which he has expanded from 7,000 to 8,000 square feet as a concession to critics, is being put out to bid.