By VINCE REMBULAT
209 staff reporter
As a youth growing up in Stockton, many of my summers were spent cooling down in one of the public swimming pools or in the comforts of the air conditioned indoor mall.
In this case, Weberstown is where we found refuge as mall rats, stopping by Thrifty’s Drug Store for an affordable scoop or two of ice cream before making the rounds under the temperature-controlled settings of the shopping center.
Weberstown is still around along with the Sherwood Mall with its food court. Thrifty’s is no longer at Weberstown but can be found around town as a Rite Aid.
Most of the Rite Aids are equipped with ice cream counters that still offer up many of the same Thrifty’s flavors but for much more than our old pocket change.
Oak Park Pool at 3537 Alvarado Ave. is still around but was remodeled years ago.
Gone are the diving boards – included was a high dive that, as a youngster, appeared as some dizzying heights while at the top looking down prior to making that plunge – replaced as more of that family-friendly water park under the operation of the YMCA.
Recreation swimming is still available ($2 per person) and is open Monday (noon to 6 p.m.); Tuesday through Friday (11 a.m. to 7 p.m.); and weekends (noon to 6 p.m.) during the summer months.
Brooking Park Pool at 4505 Nugget St. and Souza Park Pool at 2900 Yellowstone Ave. – both under the operations of the Stockton Kids Club – are two other places in town in which to cool off on a hot day.
The Brooking Park facility is open Tuesdays through Fridays from 1 to 6 p.m., and weekends only starting on Aug. 13 (noon to 6 p.m.). Cost is $2 per person.
The other public pools in the area, according to www.stocktongov.com, include the ones at Holiday Park (5703 Kermit Lane), McKinley Park (Eighth and El Dorado streets), and Sherwood Park (100 W. Robinhood Dr.).
Perhaps the most popular place to cool down in Stockton is the interactive fountain at the Weber Point Event Center, 425 El Dorado St.
“Bring chairs and towels and enjoy a fun, free day in the sun – kids laugh and play in the water spraying spheres geometrically arranged on the cement pad,” said the City of Stockton website.
The Fountain at Weber Point is open through Sept. 5, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., pending unforeseen maintenance issues or special events.
Given the miles of waterway, Stockton has very little to show in term of swimming holes. The closest is a small run-down beach at Louis Park (Dad’s Point), 3303 Monte Diablo Rd., just opposite the boat launch.
That’s unfortunate.
Gone, too, is the towering water slide near Golf Land at Hammer Lane and West Lane. In its place is a Walgreen’s Drug Store.
I would’ve preferred another Rite Aid.
To contact reporter Vince Rembulat, e-mail vrembulat@mantecabulletin.com.
