Madison's New Goodman Pool

Madison finally got a public pool thanks to the Goodman brothers, who donated $2.8 million to get it built. After much debate as to where it should be located, a site near Olin-Turville Park was selected, and the pool opened on Monday, June 12.

Location:
To get there, exit the Beltline at John Nolen Drive, then turn left on Olin Avenue. The pool will be on your left (325 Olin Ave.).

Hours:
Open swimming is from 12:30 - 4:45 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. M-F, 12:30-8 p.m. Saturday and 12:30-6 p.m. Sunday.

Cost:
Adults are $3 (resident) and $3.50 (non-resident), although they never check to see if you are a Madison resident or not.

Children are $2, seniors are $2.50 (resident) and $3 (non-resident). Coupon books and season passes also are available.


The pool is obviously geared toward children. Most of the water is only 3-4 feet deep (with many areas even shallower), and there are plenty of fun structures (i.e. water buckets that tip over once filled, water gun, etc.) with which to play. There also are two waterslides that are curvy and fast, and the lines move quickly.

Competition can be held at Goodman, as eight 25-meter lanes were built (although where spectators will sit remains to be seen, as there's not much room to bring in portable stands). One or two lanes are made available during open pool hours, but the lifeguards do a horrible job of keeping non-lap swimmers out of them.

The rest of the eight lanes are divided in two: one part for diving off either of the two 1-meter boards, and the other half for water basketball (good luck trying to use it, though, as at least a dozen kids are playing on it at any given time).

Since you can't bring in your own food, you have to buy it from the concession stand. The selection is limited but not overly expensive. Among the items: Hot dogs are $2, brats are $2.50, nachos are $2, a 20-oz. soda is $1.25 and water is $1.50.

As nice as the pool is, there are other quirks. For some reason, a sand pit was built about 10 yards from the pool. This is just asking for trouble, as many kids will play in the sand and then jump in the water, bringing the sand with them.

Also, there are far too few lounge chairs. Many people have to sit on the ground or in the grassy area past the locker rooms. Speaking of the locker rooms, the changing area is tiny. At closing time, this area can become overly crowded.

Lastly, the "rest time." Most pools have this, a period in which the pool is closed to children for 15 minutes so adults can finally have a chance to swim. Unfortunately, the staff closes the pool to everyone. The point of this is unknown.

Despite these flaws, the pool is a nice and inexpensive place to spend an afternoon. For more info, check out http://webapp.cityofmadison.com/parks/pool/index.cfm.