Tests performed on Westbrook’s only public indoor pool indicate that the city will need to make major repairs within the next year.
However, the structural integrity of the pool is in no immediate danger, a report said, and it is unlikely the pool will need to be replaced, as was initially feared when problems were found.
Last week, the city received a report from Harriman Associates, an architectural and engineering firm, which concluded that deteriorating concrete and rusting steel would have to be removed and replaced.
“We feel that the repairs should be performed as soon as possible,” the report read. If they cannot be made within the next year, it continued, the condition of the pool should be reviewed monthly.
Randy Peters, director of the city’s recreation department, said he’d be seeking estimates from pool and concrete specialists for the cost of the repairs. City Administrator Jerre Bryant said he expected the figure to come in at five figures, but the source of funding for the project would depend on the actual cost.
“It’s heavy maintenance,” Bryant said.
The 36-year-old John P. Davan Pool is located in Wescott Junior High School, which will be turned over to the city from the school department in January, when students move into a new middle school on Stroudwater Street.
Harriman, which will design renovations for the re-use of the building, inspected the pool in May and saw that years of chlorinated water seeping through the concrete had, in some places, severely rusted the steel at its core.
Architect Dan Cecil requested that city hire engineering firm S.W. Cole to take test bores of the concrete to determine whether the structure would need to be replaced entirely. According to the report from Harriman, the results showed that, in the non-damaged areas, the strength of the concrete is adequate.
“The results of these test are encouraging because it indicates that the structure as a whole is not entirely compromised,” the report said. However, it also said that, in one corner of the pool, “the level of internal damage will not be known until the deteriorated concrete is removed.” Because of that, Harriman recommended draining the pool before making those repairs, so the pressure of the water wouldn’t add to the stress on the walls.
Peters said he hoped the repairs could wait until next summer and be completed in August, in order to avoid interfering with the practice schedules of swim teams that rely on the pool.
The six-lane pool, which is 75 feet long and 10 feet deep, is used regularly by students in second grade through junior high as part of their gym program, adult lap swimmers and senior citizens in exercise classes, as well as competitive swim teams. It’s open to the public on weekday mornings and, starting at the end of the month, on Friday from 7:30-9 p.m. and Saturday from 1:30-3 p.m.
Peters recognized that Harriman may want the repairs made sooner, but the report stated that there is no threat of the pool suddenly collapsing and it doesn’t appear to be in need of replacement.
“This is relatively good news compared to what we feared it could potentially have been,” Bryant said.
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