Budlong Pool

This place is nice enough, I have been swimming here since childhood. That said, it is overpriced now and not open long enough! It should be open from Memorial Day to Labor Day and should have evening adult swim hours till 10:00pm for 18 and older people. Also, re institute the use of a pool tag!!! More people would come, meaning better revenue! Charge $ 5.00 for the tag, use it all summer!!! That’s how it used to be, and should be again!!!

Historically significant
Large enough for hundreds
Short season
This — one of the largest outdoor public pools in the US — is $ 3/​person for Cranston resident day passes (season passes are also available). The facilities are dated, with all of the memories-​of-​a-​kid-​at-​a-​summer-​camp campiness that comes with that. (Expect no glamor here.) The deck around the pool is wide enough to accommodate a lot of bring-​your-​own chairs and patrons leisurely roaming around while others swim. The lifeguards actually looked pretty attentive the day I was there. There was an ice cream stand nearby, as well.
It’s 260 feet long by 80 feet wide, and 2 feet deep in the kiddie end to 9 feet at the opposite reaches. This was primarily a recreation/​playing/​splashing kind of pool — I didn’t notice any lanes dedicated to lap swimming.
It opens for the season in late June and closes in late August — might be worthwhile to double-​check they’re open if you’re at either end of that range.
My advice? Try it out to see it, stay off the floating separators if you don’t want a whistle blown in your direction, and wash off thoroughly when you’re done. If you don’t have to travel an inordinate distance to get here, it’s worth a shot on a summer day, if only to experience its very competent cool-​down capabilities. Lazily floating around — nuthin’ wrong with that.