If you don't get a lot of freezes at night in the winter, you may be happier maintaining it. A lot of folks in AZ and other southern locales keep the pool open and running year round. During the winter, I shift my pump runtime to late-night, and if there is a freeze watch/warning, I set the pump to run constantly until the temperature warms back up (very rare in Tucson, maybe more common in Texas). Chlorine consumption goes way down when the water is cold, which requires less oversight (I tended to test weekly this last winter), so it's a personal decision you have to make.