Baltimore’s Ambrose Kennedy Pool vandalized, closes for cleanup

Ambrose Kennedy Pool was closed Wednesday due to vandalism, officials said, the latest in a string of such incidents at public pools across Baltimore.

Fecal matter was found in the East Baltimore pool, and staff must run the filtration system throughout the day to ensure proper treatment and sanitization, the city’s recreation and parks department said in a message to the community. Officials said the pool should be reopened by Thursday.

Alex Silverman, an agency spokesperson, said the impact on residents has been minimal. Silverman said the city’s recreation and parks department files police reports when property has been destroyed, but their priority remains providing safe and free aquatic spaces for Baltimoreans.

“These isolated incidents do not reflect the thousands of residents and families who use our pools responsibly every day. Our focus is on getting pools back online quickly while working to ensure the community understands the dangers of unsupervised swimming and trespassing,” she said.

Silverman said vandalism has caused five pool closures this summer. The first such incident involved vandalism that damaged the pool and pool deck at Patterson Park, “including defecation in the pool and graffiti on the property,” in early June.

Weeks later, Walter P. Carter Pool in the Wilson Park neighborhood was vandalized overnight, with officials saying glass was found there. Towanda Pool had to be shuttered due to vandalism over Independence Day weekend.

Patterson Park Pool was vandalized again in late July.

Ambrose Kennedy Pool is one of a dozen neighborhood pools in Baltimore. The pool was originally built in 1973 in the Oliver neighborhood, in what’s now known as Henrietta Lacks Educational Park.

The pool underwent more than $2 million in renovations and reopened in 2024, with Mayor Brandon Scott touting the project as an example of “bringing world-class facilities to communities that for too long were disinvested in.”