Vandalism, including a broken a water spout pipe and defecation in the Rolfe Park pool on Monday night caused the popular swimming spot to be closed all day Tuesday in the middle of a heat wave.
The Concord Parks and Recreation Facebook page posted a notice of the vandalism early Tuesday.
The closure comes as Concord residents deal with a spat of intensely hot days, with temperatures approaching 100 degrees.
With the Rolfe Park pool in Penacook closed, the scheduled swim lessons for Tuesday were moved to Kimball and Garrison pools, located about 3 miles apart on North State Street.
Stefanie Phillips, a spokeswoman for the city of Concord, said with the high temperatures on Tuesday it was a “real inconvenience” to have the pool closed. The shutdown also prompted staff changes as some lifeguards were assigned to different pools for the day. Maintenance staff worked Tuesday to shock the pool with cleaning agents and repair the water spout.
“One person had to ruin it for everyone else,” Phillips said.
This week’s vandalism comes on the heels of a different incident over the weekend, as unknown vandals broke glass in the Rollins Park pool in the south end of the city Friday night, causing a closure Saturday.
Concord police have been involved, and Phillips said officers have been asked to keep a closer eye on the pools during the night hours.
Anyone with information on the vandalism or who sees someone in a Concord pool after hours is asked to call the Concord police non-emergency line at 225-8600. Regular operating hours are available on the Parks and Recreation website.
Phillips said Rolfe Park pool should be back open Wednesday, but with delayed hours because of the holiday.
All of Concord’s seven community pools are open for the season. Previously, the Monitor reported on struggles to fill all the lifeguard positions in area communities, including Concord. This summer, Merrill and Garrison pools opened later than planned, but all lifeguard positions are currently staffed, city officials said.
(Jacob Dawson can be reached at 272-6414 ext. 325, jdawson@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @jaked156.)