Municipal pool closing for two months for repairs

By Cassie Tomlin

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 | 6:30 p.m.

The Boulder City municipal swimming pool will be closed in May and June for repairs, officials said.

Four major repair projects should be finished by the beginning of July, Sheri Oberto, aquatics coordinator said.

The 28-year-old main pool, diving pool and wading pool need new coping stones and repairs to the surge trenches, and the main pool needs new plaster surfaces, Oberto said.

Coping stones are the concrete blocks around the perimeter of the pools. Surge trenches are the slotted gutters around the pools that catch overflow and send the water through filters and back into the pools.

The wading and diving pools also need new drains to comply with the federal Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act enacted last year. The law requires all public pools to be outfitted with anti-entrapment drain covers and other safety devices.

The trenches are leaking, and repairs will save water and improve the pools’ stability, Oberto said.

The main pool’s plaster is stained and cracking, she said.

The pool normally closes for two weeks every May while crews remove the large plastic insulating bubble and drain and clean all three pools, Oberto said.

Last year, the pool closed for more than a month while crews replaced the pools’ bonding and grounding systems. Bonding and grounding connects all metal objects near the pool to avoid static sparking, which can cause electrocution in the event of a lightning strike.

The city has a $150,000 grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development it plans to use for the project but has no total cost estimate, said Roger Hall, parks and recreation director.

Oberto said the city hopes to award construction bids for the projects by the end of April.

More than 61,000 people use the pool every year. During July, the pool hosts 25 water classes.

Cassie Tomlin can be reached at 948-2073 or [email protected].