LeROY - It seems everybody gravitates to the public swimming pool during small-town summers.

It's where the kids play and where parents catch up on gossip. Some work on suntans and others swim.

With all the use, it's no wonder some of these pools haven't aged well.

At least four small-town pools in Central Illinois won't open this summer. The LeRoy pool will be closed, joining the already-closed pools in Pontiac, Streator and Tremont.

The Delavan pool, which was closed last year, also may not reopen this year.

After decades of use, all are in bad shape. In some cases, there's no money to fix them.

This is the case in LeRoy, where the 40-year-old pool won't open this summer. It'll be the third year running that the Pontiac, Streator and Tremont pools remain closed.

LeRoy residents find it hard to take.

Tricia Larkin, a member of the LeRoy Community Park District board, is among those disappointed. However, she said the pool was unsafe and needed to be closed.

Among children who'll miss the pool are her two daughters, ages 8 and 9.

"They will miss it dearly," Larkin said, adding that the closest public pools are in Farmer City and Bloomington-Normal.

As yet, there are no specific plans for next year or beyond, Larkin said.

Samantha Gulley, president of the park board, suspects planning for the future will have more urgency after a summer without a pool.

"They (LeRoy residents) will see the impact on a hot summer day," she said, adding that the pool was the only recreation LeRoy children had.

"It's very frustrating. It's a great place for families to come," said Heather Mitchell, 19, a college student who lives across the street from the LeRoy pool.

Mitchell worked as assistant manager of the pool.

LeRoy resident Karla Jenkins, who also lives near the pool, said her children are among those who'll miss it.

"It's a big disappointment. We're pretty sad about it," Jenkins said, adding that her children, 3, 5 and 6, went to the pool nearly every day last summer.

"It will be a sad summer," said Jenkins.

LeRoy voters in March turned down a $2 million referendum to replace the pool and tennis and basketball courts at the pool site.

While LeRoy residents will do without a pool for the first time, residents in Pontiac, Streator and Tremont have faced closed pools for the past two summers.

Streator City Manager John Kolata said the prospect for a new pool or aquatic center in Streator in the near future is bleak. The current pool is about 50 years old.

"We have other priorities," he said, adding those include roads and sewers.

Money also is a sticking point in Pontiac, where a new aquatic center could cost $3 million to $6 million, said Jerry Hayner, director of parks and recreation.

Hayner said the Camp- Humiston Pool, which is more than 75 years old, was closed two years ago because it was "falling apart."

While the City Council is studying a new aquatic center, Hayner said that "realistically it would be two or three years before a facility opens."

While some Pontiac residents use indoor pools at the high school or Elks Club, an outdoor pool is "the thing to do in the long, hot summer," Hayner said.

Pontiac Mayor Scott McCoy said though there's currently no timetable for making a decision on pool replacement, he'd like decisions to be made "in the next 12 to 16 months."

An aquatic center would be "a massive project," he said, adding that financing and location remain up in the air.

Tremont Park Commissioner Gene Pflederer said the 35-year-old Tremont pool should be renovated by the summer of 2007. The $1.2 million cost is being paid for with state grant money and the proceeds of local fund raising.

"The bottom line is that there's no place to swim other than private pools or other towns," he said.

The public pool in Delavan may be closed this summer, as it was last, said Shari Teal, a member of the park board in Delavan.

Park officials sought bids to fix the pool, but Teal is concerned that if too much is spent to renovate, there won't be enough operating money to pay staff and utilities.

Cheryl Carter, another Delavan park board member, is certain the pool won't open on Monday, but she is holding out hope that it'll open later in the summer.

"I'd like it to open," she said.