Tom Muehlenbeck Center Hours and Pool Schedule
The Tom Muehlenbeck Center is open from 5 am on weekdays, but each pool keeps a narrower schedule inside those building hours. Below are the building hours, every indoor pool block the City of Plano currently lists, the lap lane chart in plain terms, and how the seasonal outdoor pool works.
Which schedule is this? The City of Plano's fall, winter and spring hours, effective Sept. 8, 2026. The city warns that holidays, weather, maintenance and other closures can change them, so call 972-769-4404 if your visit depends on a specific time.
Building hours
| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Monday – Thursday | 5 am – 10 pm |
| Friday | 5 am – 9 pm |
| Saturday | 8 am – 6 pm |
| Sunday | 10 am – 6 pm |
These are the same hours Plano uses at Carpenter Park, Liberty and Oak Point, which is handy if you hold a membership and switch between centers. Notice how much shorter Sunday is: the doors open at 10 am, and the lap pool does not open until 1 pm.
Indoor lap pool hours
| Day | Lap swim |
|---|---|
| Monday – Thursday | 5 am – 9:45 pm |
| Friday | 5 am – 8:45 pm |
| Saturday | 8 am – 5:45 pm |
| Sunday | 1 pm – 5:45 pm |
The pool closes 15 minutes before the building does, so a 9:30 pm swim on a Thursday is only a quarter hour. More important than the hours is how many of the eight lanes are actually open. The city publishes a lap lane availability chart for the school year (revised Aug. 17, 2026). Our summary of it:
| Time block | Mon / Wed | Tue / Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 am hour | 8 | 3 | 8 | Closed | Closed |
| 6 – 8 am | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 at 8 am | Closed |
| 9 am – noon | 3–4 | 4, then 8 at noon | 3–4 | 3–7 | Closed |
| 1 – 3 pm | 8 (Wed 6 at 3 pm) | 8 | 8 | 3–5 | 3–4 |
| 4 pm hour | 4 (Wed 3) | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 – 8 pm | 2 | 2 | 3–4 | 3 at 5 pm | 3 at 5 pm |
| 9 pm hour | 8 | 8 (Thu 5) | Closed | Closed | Closed |
What this means for you: the best lap windows are early afternoon on weekdays and the last hour on Monday through Wednesday nights, when the whole pool is usually open. The squeeze comes from 5 to 9 pm Monday through Thursday, when only two lanes are left for the public. The city says the chart is a general guide and that programs, events and maintenance can change it without notice.
Indoor leisure pool hours
The leisure pool (the one with the current "river" and the slides) is split into three kinds of time: adults-only, all-ages open swim without slides, and full all-ages play.
| Type of swim | Days | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Adults only | Mon / Wed / Fri | 5 am – noon (river off 8–9 am) |
| Tue / Thu | 5 am – 10 am | |
| Saturday | 8 am – 10 am (river off 9–10 am) | |
| All ages, no slides | Tue / Thu | 10 am – noon |
| All ages | Mon – Thu | 8:15 pm – 9:45 pm (no slides) |
| Friday | 5 pm – 8:45 pm | |
| Saturday | 10 am – 5:45 pm | |
| Sunday | 1 pm – 5:45 pm |
For a family with young children, that leaves three realistic windows during the school year: weekday late mornings on Tuesday and Thursday, Friday evening, and weekend afternoons. Weekday afternoons are not on the posted list for the leisure pool.
Drop slide and diving board times
| Feature | Friday | Sat / Sun |
|---|---|---|
| Drop slide | 7 – 8:45 pm | 1 – 5:45 pm |
| Diving board | 7 – 8:45 pm | 3 – 5:45 pm |
Riders must be at least 48 inches tall for the slides, indoors and out. If the diving board is the main event for your kids, aim for 3 pm or later on a weekend.
The outdoor pool season
The Tom Muehlenbeck outdoor pool is a summer pool. On the fall 2026 schedule the city lists it simply as "closed for the season," and outdoor hours for summer 2027 were not yet posted when we checked in November 2026. Earlier seasons followed a roughly Memorial Day to Labor Day pattern, but treat that as history rather than a promise; opening dates and daily hours are set each year.
Weather rules matter outdoors. Swimmers are cleared from the water for visible lightning or audible thunder, and the pool stays closed for 30 minutes after the last strike or rumble. If the pool cannot reopen within an hour of its scheduled closing time, it stays closed for the day. Because TMC has indoor pools to fall back on, the city does not hand out rain checks here. The rain-out line is 972-210-2936, option 17.
Holiday hours
For Thanksgiving 2026, the city's holiday page lists the center as open 5 am to 8 pm on Wednesday, Nov. 25; closed on Thursday, Nov. 26; and open 8 am to 8 pm on Friday, Nov. 27. Hours for later holidays are added to the same page shortly before each one.
Plan a visit around the schedule
- Pick the pool first, then the hour. Lap swimmers and families want different time blocks.
- Check the day's lane count if you swim laps after 5 pm on a weeknight.
- Look at the holiday page the week of any major holiday.
- Budget for admission: see the day pass and membership prices.
Back to the main Tom Muehlenbeck Center Plano guide, or read about the pools themselves in our pools and amenities guide. Comparing options? The Plano recreation centers comparison lists pool types at each center.
Sources
- City of Plano: Recreation Centers & Pools, Fall/Winter/Spring Pool Hours (effective Sept. 8, 2026)
- City of Plano: Tom Muehlenbeck Recreation Center
- City of Plano: Tom Muehlenbeck Fall Lap Lane Hours (PDF, rev. 8/17/26)
- City of Plano: Tom Muehlenbeck Pool FAQs (PDF)
- City of Plano: Outdoor Pool Inclement Weather and Rain Check Policy (PDF)
- City of Plano: Holiday Hours