Pool renovations may seem shallow but much progression being made off-site
If you are wondering what is going on with the UCC pool, you are not the only one. Thankfully, some light has been shed on the status of the eye-sore project.
The swimming pool, out of commission since April 2011, is on track to reopen its gates by May 2014.
According to Athletic Director Cheryl Yoder, in the last three years that the UCC pool has been dry, Douglas County has had more drowning cases than ever seen since the pool first opened.
Although not much progress is seen on campus, the pool renovations are clearly visible.
“Right now it looks like no work is being done, but there really is,” Jess Miller, Director of Maintenance/Grounds, said. “When you walk around the pool and you don’t see anything being done, it doesn’t mean nothing is being done. There is so much of it that has to be done off-site and then it is brought in and put into place.”
An aquatic renovation system company called RenoSys Corporation was hired to repair the pool. They are a specialized company based out of Indianapolis, Indiana. According to Miller, only a handful of companies in the United States do this line of work, none of which are in Oregon.
The exact date of the completion of this project is still unsettled. “It was told to me that the pool will be open by spring term,” Cheryl Yoder, Athletic Director, said. “Usually they fill it over spring break, get it warmed up and chemically balanced and get it all ready to go. That’s the goal.”
RenoSys estimates to be done by mid-April, Miller plans to have the pool complete and opened by May.
A crew from RenoSys was sent out to demolish the perishing pool and prepare it for renovations. The walls have been stripped, the gutters have been cut out and the piping has been dug up.
The old gutters were made of aluminum covered with PVC which deteriorated. The new gutters are made of 12 gauge stainless steel to help resist corrosion, and they have a slip-resistant surface.
At this point, it is not a lack of motivation stalling the fixing of the pool. It is mainly the weather. The gutters are supposed to be in route, weather permitting. Recently, Indianapolis has had some snowfall delaying transportation.
“As soon as the weather breaks, we will come in there and get moving,” Chris Meadows of RenoSys and project manager said. “We are assessing the situation on a daily basis. As soon as we can get someone out there and get a truck heading that way with the gutter on it then we will. It is here, it’s ready.”
Once the gutters arrive, installation will begin, again depending on weather. “We can weld in the cold, but we can’t weld on a windy day,” Meadows said.
Another part of the project was fixing the old pipes. The pitting pipes had the potential to spring leaks underground. Now, the 125 foot aluminum-encased PVC pipe has been pressurized and sealed with resin making sure there will be no future leaks. This pipe should last for decades.
A new liner and a new filter system have also been updated and will be installed.
In order to make all this possible, Miller was given a $500,000 budget. He is projecting the pool renovations will come in under budget. “I had to go another direction with the water features because the water features we intended on putting in have to have their own filter system and their own pump system. That was going to send the price through the roof.”
“This is going to be even better than what we had,” Miller said of the new pool system which will have six jets on each side of the pool, all connected to a main valve. When the valve is open, a constant stream of water will shoot out of the jets on deck, into the air and land in the pool. The valve will be able to control flow and turn off the jets for swim meets or aquatic classes. The UCC Foundation is donating the money needed for the jets, about $5,000.
With the extra money, Miller also wants to make the aquatic area more aesthetically pleasing. “There are a few things I want to try to accomplish that are outside of the scope of the pool.” The deck could be redone and the bench seating needs new plastic covers to replace the old brittle cracked ones.
Anyone interested in donating to aid in the completion of the project should see Susan Taylor in the UCC Foundation Office in the Technical Center on campus.