The Heights Pool Is Open Past Swim Season, and Nonmembers Can Come Too
The kitchen at the Heights Pool on Viesca used to serve only the people inside the fence, and for most of the neighborhood the place closed for the year on Labor Day weekend. This fall, anyone can walk up to the grill from the lawn next door and order fajitas without a membership card.
The 2026 regular swim season ran May 21 through September 7. Right after that, the pool posted something new: an off season that runs from September 8 to Sunday, December 13. During those months the grill keeps cooking, and the lawn next door is open to anyone who shows up. This didn't happen by accident. It traces back to a lease request the city received two years ago.
The pool at 250 Viesca belongs to the city, but Alamo Heights doesn't own the land under it. A December 2024 city council agenda memorandum explains that Alamo Heights first leased the Olmos Basin property from the City of San Antonio on April 24, 1947, and then built the pool, the concession area and the related facilities. The memo says that master lease now runs to 2058, with a possible extension to February 28, 2098.
According to that memo, the city has hired private operators to run the pool since 1990:
On its own story page, the pool describes Stacy and Clayton Smaistrla as Rick Shaw's daughter and son-in-law, carrying on his legacy. Council approved the new lease terms on January 27, 2025, according to the city's action-taken notice from that meeting.
The 2024 memo also lists what the new operators asked for. They wanted to remodel the interior prep area and update the kitchen while keeping the original look from the outside. They wanted pickleball courts inside the existing fence and a lease of 20 years with possible extensions. They wanted to "expand operations to 12 months per year." They also asked to sell concessions to the general public, with a condition spelled out in plain terms: those sales "would be sold to the outside only with no admittance to the pool." The same memo says the city was studying a pocket park next to the pool, with public restrooms, a shade structure and some outdoor seating.
That pocket park became the place where those outside sales could happen.
Kellyanne Park opened with a grand opening and dedication on July 11, 2026. It takes up part of the parking lot between the pool and the Little League fields. The city's announcement describes it as almost half an acre, with a pavilion, a play area and public restrooms outside the pool area. It also confirms the arrangement the 2024 memo described: the Heights Pool Grille concessionaire can serve walk-up customers through the new park.
The city named the park in memory of Kellyanne Lytal, a young Alamo Heights resident, and it also honors two other young people from local Alamo Heights families. The city calls it a place of both joy and remembrance. KSAT and KENS 5 both covered the dedication as the opening of a family gathering place next to the pool and the ballfields. 78209 Magazine ran a preview the week before.
The architecture firm Ford, Powell & Carson designed the park with the landscape architecture firm Coral Studios, and Malitz Construction built it. The project grew as it moved forward. In December 2025, Focus On San Antonio reported an estimated cost of $900,000, with construction expected to start in early January 2026 and finish in May. A January 12, 2026 city staff memorandum then proposed a Malitz contract capped at $1,742,395 plus $87,120 in contingency, for a total authorization of up to $1,829,515 from the FY 2026 Comprehensive Plan Fund. That is the ceiling council was asked to approve. It is not a final spending figure. The park opened about two months after the May target.
The posted hours narrow every month, so a plan that works in early November may not work in December. Here is the schedule from the Heights Pool hours page.
| Month | Closed | Weekday hours | Weekend hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| October | Monday | Tue–Thu, 3–8:30 p.m. | Fri–Sun, noon–9 p.m. |
| November | Monday–Tuesday | Wed–Thu, 3–8:30 p.m. | Fri–Sun, noon–9 p.m. |
| December, through the 13th | Monday–Thursday | None | Fri–Sun, noon–9 p.m. |
The weekly lineup is built around the grill. The pool posts these regular nights:
The pool itself is still for members and their guests. The park is not. The pool states plainly that POOLSIDE in Kellyanne Park is open to everyone and that no pool membership is needed for the park or its specials. October's park specials were free ice cream on Tuesdays from 5 p.m., kids eating free with an adult entrée on Wednesdays, and a Thursday movie night on the lawn with 20% off appetizers from 4 to 7 p.m. Those specials were posted for October only. The pool says weather closures and last-minute specials go up on Instagram at @alamoheightspool and @poolsideatkp, so check there for November's lineup.
With the park open and the grill serving the public, the city is planning something it describes as brand new for the space. The City of Alamo Heights announcement for the 1st Annual Alamo Heights Chili Cook Off says the city "wants to start something new to bring the community together," and that it is working with the Heights Pool to do it.
When: Saturday, November 14, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Where: Kellyanne Park and the Heights Pool parking lot, 250 Viesca, San Antonio, TX 78209 Cost: No entry fee to compete or to attend
The cook-off has 22 contestant spots, with cash prizes for the best chili. Cooks sign up by emailing [email protected], and spots go to the first 22 who register. A cornhole tournament also pays cash prizes. Contestants will hand out free chili samples. Families get bounce houses, face painting and balloon artists.
Two local bands share the stage. Texas Tide plays from noon to 4 p.m. Its band page calls it San Antonio's Jimmy Buffett tribute band, on the Texas music scene since the summer of 2000, mixing tropical music with classic rock and country rock. The Texases close the day from 4 to 6 p.m. The band's current lineup is Travis Texas, Jerid Texas, Carlos Tejas, Brandon Texas and Cooper Texas. The city plans to stream college football in the park, including UT v. LSU and A&M v. Tennessee, and POOLSIDE will serve food and drinks across the event area.
The plan lines up closely with the 2024 lease request. On a Saturday in mid-November, two months after the swim season ends, the public will eat and drink from the pool's kitchen without going through the pool gate.
In December 2024, the operators described 12-month operation as something they "desire." The posted 2026 calendar doesn't reach that yet. The pool lists Sunday, December 13 as the last day of the off season, and the hours in the final two weeks are Friday through Sunday only. Even so, this first off season runs more than three months past Labor Day, and it is the first year the public has had a permanent place to sit beside the pool.
The pavilion is the easiest way to use that window for a group. The pool rents it to the public, food and drinks for pavilion events come from POOLSIDE, and the posted rates are below.
| Rental | Length | Capacity | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Half pavilion | Two hours | Up to 24 people | $250 |
| Full pavilion | See pool for details | Up to 60 people | $750 |
A team party after the last Little League game, a birthday on a December weekend, a watch party for a Saturday kickoff: every one of them can now happen on what used to be a corner of a parking lot. The pool's next step toward year-round operation will show up first on the Heights Pool hours page.
Here at M. Stagers Realty Partners, we keep track of how places like the Heights Pool and Kellyanne Park change from one season to the next, because those details help explain what daily life in 78209 is like. If you'd like to talk about what's changing in Alamo Heights, Olmos Park or Terrell Hills, we're glad to start that conversation whenever you're ready. Start Your Journey with us.
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