Ankeny's Pools Open. Des Moines's Don't.

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Both metros hired plenty of lifeguards. Both opened pools for the weekend. Only one is rotating closures all summer to plug a budget hole — and it isn't ours. Let's roll. 🚲

Des Moines and Ankeny both opened pools for Memorial Day. Des Moines hired 150 lifeguards for the season. Ankeny put its staff through training all last week, even climbing into the water in 50-degree air to drill rescues. Lifeguard headcount isn't the difference.

Here's what is. Des Moines City Council voted to rotate closures across its five public pools all summer to find cost savings — not because of staffing, but because the city is projecting a $12 million budget shortfall in fiscal year 2028, growing to $17 million the year after. Through this weekend, only Northwest Aquatic Center is open in Des Moines. All five open May 30 — then the rotation starts.

In Ankeny, both Cascade Falls and Prairie Ridge spent the off-season getting "a lot of repairs," in the words of Aquatics Recreation Supervisor Katie McGrane — and both reopen for the full 2026 season this Saturday, May 30, with no planned closures.

"We're super grateful the city administration is supportive of the aquatic centers," McGrane told We Are Iowa. "We've been able to pay staff appropriate wages and open and take care of the facility as needed… everyone is struggling with budgets, but we've been pretty fortunate here in Ankeny."

Translation: when your neighbors fifteen minutes south are picking which pool to close on which Tuesday, the boring municipal-finance choices Ankeny made last fall start to look very specific.

📍 Sources: We Are Iowa — Des Moines vs. Ankeny pool coverage · Ankeny Pools & More

Iowa just got a new all-time SMR record — and Ankeny owns it. The Class 4A girls 1600m sprint medley relay — Lena Bruening, Lilly Buckley, Morgan Fisher, and Makenna Madetzke — ran 3:55.44 at state Friday, breaking the 2017 Davenport Assumption mark of 3:55.82 and landing #2 in the nation this season. The all-time Iowa state record now lives in Ankeny. Track Scoreboard final · Bound Iowa announcement

June 1 Council: agenda still pending. Monday's regular meeting is on the calendar at 5:30 p.m. at Kirkendall Library, paired with a Council Action Planning Session at the same time. The agenda hadn't posted as of this morning — Council typically posts late in the week. The Fire Department business license proposal could still resurface here. CivicClerk portal

Networking before the heat hits. Lattes & Leads runs 7:30–9 a.m. today at Ankeny Family Counseling (1910 SW Plaza Shops Ln) — the Chamber's monthly morning mixer. No registration required, just walk in. Today's high climbs to 86°, so this is your cool-indoor option. Chamber details

📍 NWS Des Moines forecast for Ankeny

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Today (Tuesday, May 26):

Tomorrow (Wednesday, May 27):

Most new construction in Ankeny is aimed at growing families. Shepherd's Grove is the opposite — a brand-new active-adult community (55+) on NE Berwick Drive built specifically for older residents, with three-bedroom homes from 1,500 square feet on a lot-lease model: you own the home, the monthly lot rent covers the lawn mowing and the snow removal.

The structural angle here is the one the developer leans into. Every retiree who downsizes into Shepherd's Grove frees a single-family home elsewhere in the city — exactly the housing inventory younger Ankeny families have been competing for since Ankeny jumped 14 spots to #4 in U.S. News' national rankings last week. New homes are arriving weekly, and the model home is open every Saturday, 11 a.m.–2 p.m., with weekday tours by appointment.

The basics:

📍 Source: Shepherd's Grove — About

Two Ankeny wins from one weekend you can hold onto: both city pools open all summer while Des Moines rotates closures, and four Ankeny girls just took home Iowa's all-time 1600 SMR record. Quietly, consequentially, a good few days for the town.

Tomorrow: the Cultural Arts Board meets at the library, the high climbs to 87°, and we'll watch for the June 1 Council packet to drop.

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