A popular Garland pool and recreation center are closing for good.
The city council on Monday approved its 2026-27 budget, which did not include the Bradfield Recreation Center and Pool. The pool closed for the season earlier this month, and the rec center will cease operations after Sept. 30, the last day of the current fiscal year.
In a news release, the city said the decision to close the more than 50-year-old facilities was “not made lightly.”
“For many Garland residents, Bradfield is much more than a building or a pool,” the release said. “Since opening in 1975, it has been a place where children learned to swim, families gathered, neighbors met and generations of residents participated in camps, classes and recreation programs.”
Monday’s vote came after months of public discussion over the budget.
Garland resident Monica Moore spoke against the closure at a June city council meeting and had reached out to her council representative in an effort to save the rec pool and rec center.
“I think that the community has been voicing their concerns about it, and we just haven't been heard,” Moore said.
She said Bradfield was close to her home and was “convenient and affordable.” She also said she worried about kids in her neighborhood not having access close by to take swimming lessons.
The city’s other two pools, Holford and the Surf and Swim aquatic park, are 4 and 7 miles away, respectively.
She told KERA she was disappointed about the council’s decision to close Bradfield.
“The way it was presented, there was nothing that could be done for it,” Moore said. “It wasn't set up for the community to vote or the residents to vote on, it was just slid in under the budget, and it was taken.”
Staff told council during the last budget work session that it would take $2.2 million to keep Bradfield afloat – which included $1.4 million in repairs at the rec center and $767,000 in pool repairs.
The city will transition programming at the rec center and pool to other facilities. Bradfield Park will remain open.
City council member Justin Caraway, who represents the district where Bradfield is located, had previously told KERA that a new rec center and pool could be considered for a future bond program.
“I think that a lot of people are looking at this potential closing, saying that it's a forever thing," he said, “and that's truly not the case.”
Priscilla Rice is KERA’s communities reporter. Got a tip? Email her at price@kera.org.
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