Section of Quincy pool opening may be delayed

QUINCY — One section of the Quincy Aquatic Center may open late this summer, or may not open at all. Parks and Recreation Director Russ Harrington said mandatory revisions to the original pool, called the lap pool, may keep it dry for at least part of the summer.

“Whenever you go to do something new to your pool, you have to come up to that (current) standard,” Harrington said Wednesday.

The lap pool’s existing drains are out of compliance with that standard, Harrington told the Quincy City Council Tuesday. The problem was discovered, he said Wednesday, while ordering parts that had reached the time limit on their permitted use.

The lap pool was built in the 1960s.

Council members approved an amendment to a contract with Water Technology, Inc., a Wisconsin design and engineering firm.

“This amendment to their original contract is for engineering work by their company to come up with a fix that will allow us to retrofit our current pool to get it up to the current standards and be able to open it,” Harrington told council members. “The process for it is, we need to have an engineer who deals with this stuff daily to come up with a fix.”

Once that’s completed the proposal must be submitted first to the Grant County Health District. Harrington said it may need to go to other health authorities for approval after that.

The relevant federal law was first passed in 2007 and was updated in 2021, according to a report from the engineers. They examined the pool last month.

The aquatic center has a separate section with a water slide, and Harrington said the recreation center staff is working to have it ready by June 16, the projected opening date. Unknown thieves broke into the pool facility sometime during the last month, Harrington said, so some parts may need to be replaced before the pool can open.

In a memo for the council, Harrington wrote that opening the lap pool by July 14 would allow time for activities like advanced swim lessons and lap swimming. In answer to a question from council member Jeff Spence, he said some activities might work in the slide pool.

“The swim aerobics people, potentially they could,” he said.

Council member Sonia Padron asked about a possible timeline for opening. Harrington said that’s yet to be determined since city officials don’t know yet how long the design review process will take.

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.