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    Whealan Pool Aquatic Center

    3.6 (48 reviews)
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    Empty parking lot and tree logs
    Meg R.

    Empty and closed on Memorial Day. It's a ghost town but I imagine social distancing would be impossible at this park. Hugs empty parking lot in back and a couple deer spotted while bike riding around this empty space. I can't imagine coming to this place again once it's open and the car traffic is insane.

    From a lounge chair. Lounge chairs are limited
    Lefai K.

    I've been wanting to check out this place for a while but my cheap ass couldn't do it, when nearby Norwood Park pool is free. But apparently, on opening day (usually the Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend) its free! So I was a little bit worried -- opening day, FREE, and the first day of Chicago 2018 where the high temps were expecting to be in near record highs of high-80s. I hate crowds, and all this made me second-guess whether to go or not. But did I mention that I'm cheap? So my cheapness trumped my hatred of crowds, and I decided to take the kiddos here. Plus, I like trying new things/places. Parking was actually not too bad for me. Pool opened at 11AM, but I figured I'd wait after lunch. There's free street parking on the north side of Devon avenue, facing west. I would be careful trying to stop and parallel park the car, as westbound cars coming on Devon, from Central, generally floor it to over 50mph since there's really nothing but forest preserve between Central and the next intersection, Milwaukee. This can be tricky to stop on the right lane to back up and parallel park your car on Devon (although street parking is closer to the main entrance of Whealan). Luckily, they have a private parking lot too, located just east of the Caldwell Woods parking lot. Go down a stretch of road and there's lots of parking slots for cars. I was able to nab one as someone else was pulling out, so I can't say for sure if its tough or not to find a spot here, but from what I glanced, the lot was pretty full. From the parking lot, walk back a block or so to Devon, where the main entrance is. There's a ticket window for admission. It was free for us today, so the person behind the window let us through. Go through the doors, and follow the signs to get to the pool, as it is somewhat of a maze to find it; through double-doors, through a courtyard of sorts, make a right, to the mens locker room. Pool area itself is rather large. On this particular day, there was definitely at least a couple hundred people from being in the pool area, or on the lounge chairs and lawn. I will concur with other reviewers that the lawn lounging chairs are a rare commidity, so if you're able to snag one up next to a shady umbrella, buy a lottery ticket when you head home too. The pool goes from zero depth to 4ft 10inches. Whealan has two water slides, which were rather slow. I had to paddle myself down the whole time or just risk sitting there, even when you try to lean back like Fat Joe. Kids also thought the water slide was extremely slow. Other cool pool stuff was an inflatable obstacle course, a rock-climbing wall in the pool, and a water fixture that had a smaller water slide (thinking its for the tots) with waterfall fixtures and other stuff that splashed water. I don't know if the place was suffering from low water pressure, but this water fixture didn't have all the spouts working. They had several of them shower looking spouts, where you pull a rope and you get doused with water, but none of em worked. Every hour, there is a mandatory 10-15minute safety break, where everyone except the adults had to vacate the pool. That's pretty typical to me, and I find it a good opportunity to reapply sunblock. Skin cancer aint no joke yo. Water around the pool was cloudy at times, with leaves all over the water. Not sure if the staff cleaned it well, or it may be leaves/debris that people in the lawn area drag into the pool. Either way, a little off-putting, but what you expect when you share a pool with a hundred other people? Although there was quite a bit of people, I didn't feel too crowded in the pool. It's no Taste of Chicago, lemme tell ya. You can't give away enough free food for this guy to endure the crowds. But I digress. Overall, this is a great option to have, if you're heating up from the dog days of Chicago summer. LOCKERROOM REVIEW: Rather clean and organized, not the grimy cement floors you find at the Chicago Park district locker rooms. Plenty of half-length lockers to store your stuff. Bathrooms down the hall are made of prison stainless steel. Sit or squat? Squat.

    2 water slides that land in a 3ft 6" pool.
    Lisa N.

    When I was younger, I remember this place to be HUGE! There were at least 3 different diving boards... One that in my childhood memory must have been 100 feet tall! I haven't been back in over 30 years, but my kids have been begging me to go. I must say, it's much smaller and there are NO diving boards in the vicinity. I have a 6,8 and 10 year old. There is lots to do if your kids are 8 and under. Anything over 8, they'll be looking forward to leaving because everything seems too banish for them.

    Kinda wish they'd take the wood chips out of the landscaping - it gets everywhere and hurts your feet to step on!
    Jenni S.

    Pretty good bang for your buck. My three year old son loved the two kiddie areas and he was just big enough to enjoy the kiddie water slide. We had a blast. I read comments on how some thought it was dirty - it was very clean the day i was there. There were some wood chips near the entrance of the pool but I saw staff sweeping it up on several occasions. About the wood chips - the bushes/landscaping is a tad lacking and needs some love - and they need to get rid of the wood chips. Maybe some large stones so they won't get everywhere? Little kids trample on it and get it all over- it is pretty annoying. We got there when it opened and it took about an hour and a half to get crowded - Best to get there early! It was just starting to get crowded as we left. I'd also like to point out that there are no curtains on the stalls in the ladies changing area. I didn't like that at all. I was thankful i dried off enough to go home in my suit and swim cover up.

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    4 years ago

    It was great. A little busy, Pool Is 5ft deep which was perfect and service was nice overall

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    14 years ago

    I would give this place 5 stars if the life guards actually paid attention to the pool area.

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    8 years ago

    hung out here as a high school kid when we wanted to swim without the burdens of lake Michigan, nice clean place, but really remodeled note

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    Page 1 of 2

    Ask the Community - Whealan Pool Aquatic Center

    Does the big slide have a height requirement?

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    Review Highlights - Whealan Pool Aquatic Center

    Now, not only does the main pool have zero depth, there's also an area specifically for kids under 4.

    Mentioned in 4 reviews

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    Big Blue Swim School

    Big Blue Swim School

    (93 reviews)

    I decided to sign my daughter up for the free "try out" session to see how she, my husband, and I…read moreliked Big Blue Swim School. We were asked to come a few minutes before our scheduled lesson time. When we arrived, there was plenty of parking in their parking lot. We were greeted and given a quick tour of the facilities. I was immediately impressed with the hair drying station, changing rooms, cubby storage, children's play/waiting area, and even the pool, which is kept at I believe 90 degrees year round, which is a huge plus for my daughter. When it was time, someone calls all the kids scheduled for that time to check in with them and tells the kids which swim lane to go to. Parents can choose to wait and watch behind glass, or go in and sit on the benches next to the pool. They do little tests during the lesson, but they make it so fun that the kids don't even realize they're being watched and tested. My daughter was rated on her current abilities, and we were approached by Julie (I think), given a welcome bag with some goodies, and told of my daughter's swim level. She went over how everything worked, rates, and answered all of our questions. When the lesson was over, the kids walk over to the shower stations (which are right next to the pool) to wash off. We decided to sign my daughter up for weekly lessons. She's gone a few times now, tried a few instructors, and we have concluded that Alexis is the best. He is so engaged the whole time, not looking off into space like some other instructors. The kids are always laughing with him, and my daughter actually smiles during her lesson with him. Additionally, I feel that his methods are more efficient and have seen improvement in my daughter's abilities. I have navigated Big Blue's website and give the site 4 stars. As much as I like the ease of signing up, changing/editing, adding, or canceling lessons and paying, I wish there was a way to see a month view with lesson and instructor labeled. Currently, I am having to edit each lesson individually to request the specific instructor. Overall, I am more than happy paying the $23 a lesson for my daughter to get swim lessons here. I recommend trying to free trial lesson. You have nothing to lose and will not be disappointed!

    We've tried a few places and we settled here. My goal was to get my son to go underwater and now he…read moredoes. But...with goggles, because they require them to wear that here. Going to a pool without goggles - well, that's another story. At least he is learning techniques to swim. I like the fact they have an app where you can check in, change classes, and see his progress - if something is entered. He was in Bold Blue 1 for quite a long time and it kept showing he had not fulfilled the requirements, nor has done any of them. Then one day...boom, it was all done and he moved up to Bold Blue 2. So one week passes, no progress, week 2 and nothing. Week 3 - one task fulfilled. I don't understand how and when it is monitored. BUT...we go weekly. We sit in the bright room and watch our little boy swim for half an hour. He's happy. We're happy.

    Foss Swim School

    Foss Swim School

    (21 reviews)

    We had our daughter in park district swimming classes but she wasn't making progress. At Foss she…read morebecame more comfortable and confident, and after a couple years now swims considerably better than I do.

    I am truly sad and disappointed in our Foss experience at Elmwood Park. When we started at Foss,…read morethe quality of instruction and kid-friendly environment made it worth the steep price. Our son loved his lessons. However, several major factors have caused us to pull our son out mid session. This year, Foss stopped offering any make up sessions. To us, this was unreasonable as the current session is 13 weeks long and the price is $30 for a half hour. Instead, Foss offers family swim as a substitute for a make-up lesson, which books out months in advance. Other swim schools offer tokens for make up sessions as inevitably, very few families are available for 13 weeks straight. We also experienced a major lack of communication with management. Nobody answers the phone. We missed a session once and when we arrived the following week, the building was closed. There was nothing on the website or any form of communication to inform us of this closure. When I called and asked why the building was closed I was told that there had been a note on the door the previous week (the week we missed.) Most unfortunately, the quality of swim instructors at Foss varies widely. Although our three teachers before this session were great, our most recent teacher wasn't in the pool when class started, had 4 year old kids sitting on the step for long periods of time, and put the kids in time out if they moved to the other end of their lane for their turn. Of course the top priority is safety, but she never showed the children what she expected of them. I'm still not sure how they were expected to get to the other side of the lane for their turn. I had to stick up for my son when the teacher put him in time out for moving down the lane. During the first class with her, my son only swam for 10 minutes total, as the kids sat on the step for the first 10 minutes, played games for 5 minutes and were sent out of the pool early. This is not acceptable when classes cost about $1 per minute. When I spoke with the manager about my concern, another mom was doing the same thing about the same teacher. Instead of listening to me, the manager said she'd call or email me the next day, but I never heard from her until I followed up a few days later. If I were the manager, I would be interested in knowing why families were ending their sessions. Overall, this lack of communication, and poor teacher experience is no longer worth the high cost (and parking nightmare.) We were hoping to keep our son (and eventually enroll our daughter) at Foss as there are few swim environments close to us that are as kid friendly. We know a lot of families at Foss who have had great experiences, but unfortunately, it was not for us.

    LA Fitness

    LA Fitness

    (32 reviews)

    Albany Park

    03/21/26 - I came here today to renew my LA Fitness membership. It's gotten so expensive. I pay…read more$40/year (lol). WhenI signed up back when the dinosaurs were roaming the Midwest Prairies back when it was The Chicago Health Club. Chicago Health Club use to have a roll back the hand of time offering existing members the ability to bring in new members at the same rate they signed in at. Over the years Bally bought and sold to LA Fitness. LA Fitness now has 17 locations in Chicago city limits & 57 locations statewide. They provide a decent place to workout w/all the necessary equipment from free weights to machine weights to cardio equipment while providing a number of scheduled classes. Sometime I practice my Tai Chi in the cardio rooms when they're vacant

    I've been going to LA Fitness for a while now, and overall it's been a solid gym experience…read more One of the biggest positives is the parking -- there's plenty of it, which makes it really convenient no matter what time you go. That alone makes a difference compared to other city gyms where you're circling the lot before even starting your workout. The staff has always been friendly and helpful. From the front desk to the floor staff, everyone's been approachable and professional whenever I've had questions or needed help. It can get pretty packed depending on the time of day, especially during peak after-work hours, so you might have to wait for certain machines. But if you go earlier in the morning or later at night, it's much more manageable. The sauna is a big plus. It's usually clean and well maintained, which is important. The locker rooms are also kept in good shape -- clean lockers, organized layout, and overall a comfortable space to get ready before or after workouts. Between the convenient parking, good staff, clean facilities, and solid amenities, it's a reliable spot to train.

    Whealan Pool Aquatic Center - swimmingpools - Updated May 2026

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