Tuesday, July 18, 2006
The pool won't reopen for at least two weeks.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The hot, sticky summer just got worse for those who enjoy swimming in the city's only public pool.
Borts Pool closed Saturday and will not reopen for at least two weeks, said Joseph R. McRae, the city's park and recreation director.
The timing couldn't be any worse, he said. Temperatures were expected to be in the 80s and 90s this week, and the other city pool, North Pool, is closed for the summer as it undergoes a major improvement project.
Before opening Borts Pool on June 16, city park officials were worried that the West Side pool, on Belle Vista Avenue, was on borrowed time.
"We've been talking for the past few years that the pools need to be upgraded," McRae said. "This is not a pretty picture."
One of Borts' three filtration tanks that pump chlorine into the pool has been broken for some time.
Over the weekend, a second tank developed a 6-inch hole that severely decreased the amount of chlorine getting into the pool, and some of it poured into the pool's pump room, McRae said.
"The tanks are old, and as they get old, they can't deal with the stress," he said.
Serious problem
Although park officials talked about the tank issue for some time, Mayor Jay Williams said McRae first told him about the issue Monday. Williams acknowledges that having both pools down is a serious problem.
"I was told that park officials felt the tanks could last through this season," Williams said. "That calculation was incorrect. It was a judgment call if they could make it through this season. This could have easily gone the other way and worked as it was planned."
The city brought in Whitmer Co., a pool repair company in Cleveland, to examine Borts Pool on Monday.
The company suggested replacing Borts' three filtration tanks with two new tanks, McRae said. McRae needs to talk to the mayor, city council and the park and recreation board about the purchase. Although a price hasn't been determined, Williams said the pool work would cost between $40,000 and $60,000.
It would take 10 to 14 days to get the tanks delivered and then up to five days to install them, McRae said.
The city typically closes its pool season in late August. It may extend the pool season by two weeks, McRae said.
For a number of years, the city had six public pools. Today, there are two city pools, and neither is open.
North Side pool
Earlier this year, the city demolished the North Pool, off Belmont Avenue, because an inspection showed it was losing a lot of water.
That pool is undergoing a $1.05 million improvement project, and was originally scheduled to open in time for this year's pool season.
But changes in the project's scope and in determining the cost led to delays. Work on that pool didn't begin until early May, and will be done in five months in a best-case scenario.
skolnick@vindy.com