Connors Memorial Swimming Pool

Too small of a pool to accomodate the city. Plain and simple. Parking for 10 cars. Pool at capacity means you wait your sweaty little ass outside. Oh ya. pool is always at capacity. One person comes out, one person is allowed in. This works great when you are outside and stuck behind 3 bus loads of kids from the Boys & Girls Clubs. Looks nice but too much of a hassle to swim there.

This pool reopened in 2012 after many years being closed. Massive renovation. Nice wading area for littles, deep end for everyone else, fun water features like sprays and buckets. New changing areas, clean bathrooms. The people of Waltham rejoiced, it was free, the neighboring church blessed the waters (and allowed free parking during non-​church hours).
Now, while the pool itself is still pretty nice, the experience…
Parking is scarce. There is a tiny lot, and on-​street parking. The church, likely due to people abusing the privilege, revoked the parking offer.
Lifeguards are also scarce. On a recent weekend afternoon, during a non-​peak time, my family had to wait 30 minutes to be let into the pool. This presumably was due to the pool being at capacity… they were only letting people in if people left… but looking at it, there did not seem to be many people actually in the pool. Maybe 20.
Then, once we did get in, there was a whistle blow and everyone got out of the pool for a safety check, usually 2 mins, but ended up being 20 minutes. Lots of antsy kids. This also due to lifeguard shortage? Breaks?
When we finally got into the water, it was nice, clean. There were benches in the shade, or you can bring chairs. There are lockers now.
Be aware there are unposted rules. Do not bring pool toys, boats, buckets, sinkers, inflatables, beach balls. This is not a pool for playing. Goggles must not be scuba-​type, no snorkels. Kids floaties must be coast-​guard approved. No cotton clothing, or anything that looks like it might be cotton. Be prepared to show manufacturer tags. Do not touch the water features. Do not stand on the blue tile. Do not jump in from the blue tile.
I understand the need for some rules, but a pool without pool toys is a sad thing.