CARBONEAR, NL — Carbonear’s director of recreation says the town took action to address complaints from pool users about the stereo playing music during swims.
Two regular pool users who wished not to be identified contacted the Compass to air grievances about the noise generated by the stereo, which one referred to as a “ghetto blaster.”
“People have always been going to the office, but never got any help” said one of the pool users. “Nothing’s been done about it.”
In addition to the music being loud, those who spoke with the Compass also questioned its suitability to the environment.
“There’s just no sense to the music. It’s up, then it’s down, there’s screaming and it’s just bouncing off the walls. I’ve noticed ever since I’ve been there that people are leaving. Sometimes they only do half a swim and it gets so ridiculous and loud that they just leave, and they never came back.”
One complainant said the issue discourages seniors from using the facility and added that’s unfortunate, since swimming is a good recreational activity for older people.
“Some of the new lifeguards, they will turn it down, but then somebody else will come in and jack it right up again, blasting. It’d blow your ear drums right out.”
Rob Button, the town’s recreation director, noted those complaints have gone to government departments beyond the municipality.
“First when they came here, we did change our music style to suit (users), because some of the music was kind of, not inappropriate, but a little harder than easy listening,” Button said. “So, we did change our music playlist.
“Further to that, we’ve had the health inspector in from the area and we’ve gone over what levels we play our music at, and … the decibel level has always been within regulation for people using the facility. So, there’s nothing over and above what it should be.”
The recreation director said he’s confident those actions should address any concerns regarding the stereo set up.
“We’ve checked decibel levels, they’re all within range. There was also concerns about where the speaker was on the deck, and that’s all been addressed. Where we keep it and the way we have it plugged in, that’s all within the safety standards. So, there’s no real concerns there for people not to use our facility.”
