HAMLET OF JAMESVILLE – After being shut down for two consecutive years, Jamesville Beach is officially open to the public once again.
The extended closure came as a result of ongoing declines and shortages in lifeguard staffing that have emerged not just county-wide but across the country.
“We’re excited to be able to offer swimming again at Jamesville Beach,” said Leiko Kiggins, the director of recreation for Onondaga County Parks. “We just want everybody to have a safe and happy summer where they can actually come out and congregate together.”
To abide by New York State codes regarding recreational safety and supervision, there has traditionally been a base of seven to 10 lifeguards kept at both Jamesville Beach and Oneida Shores according to Kiggins.
However, because of the struggles with dwindling numbers, only Oneida Shores has remained open between the two throughout the days of COVID, mainly because it provides accompanying campgrounds.
Kiggins said that during a typical year the county is fortunate to have returning lifeguards, but once the pandemic hit, its instructional classes were disallowed and put on hold. That obstacle then prevented newcomers from hitting the sand at the same time that college-age employees were acquiring internships, getting full-time jobs post-graduation, or moving elsewhere.
Usually the county would hold these classes once or twice a year over either the February school break or the one in April, or both depending on instructor availability. They have taken place in the past at such locations as the indoor swimming pools of Henninger High School and Nottingham High School.
Showing signs of a return to normalcy, the county resumed with a class earlier this spring and started collaborating with New York State Parks and the City of Syracuse’s schools and parks to host another course in the near future, meaning its lifeguard roster is increasingly being filled out.
Some of the other class participants will be hired specifically by the city rather than Onondaga County, while some will find work at private pools in the area.
Though the amount of certified lifeguards staffed at local pools and beaches will exceed the minimum necessary, Kiggins said certain locations might not have enough to allow theirs to take vacations.
“It’s such an essential and important position,” she said, adding that lifeguarding teaches teamwork and responsibility. “You take those things on with you into so many other different jobs in your life.”
To take a lifeguard class, participants must be at least 15 years old, and they need to pass a pre-screening swimming skills evaluation, which includes a 550-meter front crawl or breaststroke swim, a two-minute water tread without the use of hands, and an additional timed skills evaluation.
Though the remainder of the Jamesville premises never closed like its beach did, the future remains iffy for the Syracuse Balloon Festival, a summertime draw that had called the park home for four decades.
Over the years, the park, which is on Apulia Road near LaFayette and Pompey, has also brought in the Street Scene car show and training sessions for triathlons.
