The announcement includes the city's seven outdoor pools and two wading pools. Author: WGRZ Staff, Rob Hackford (WGRZ) Published: 5:01 PM EDT July 1, 2021 Updated: 11:38 PM EDT July 1, 2021 BUFFALO, N.Y. — It's going to be a long, hot summer in Buffalo with the announcement Thursday that the city's nine outdoor pools will not open for the season. Andrew Rabb, the Deputy Parks, and Recreation Commissioner said the pools will be closed due to a "critical lifeguard shortage." “Back in March, we started reaching out to all the lifeguards who worked for us in 2019, the last time all of our indoor and outdoor pools were open. While we were able to hire enough lifeguards to open our two indoor pools, and will be hiring additional staff to expand hours at those facilities, there just aren’t enough certified lifeguards out there to open the outdoor pools,” Rabb said in a statement.