Earliest Du Quoin pool opening would be June 7
The Du Quoin city council meets in special session at noon Thursday to consider its options for the opening of the Du Quoin Municipal Swimming Pool this summer.
Park board member Joe Stephens and Mayor Guy Alongi met last week with engineers from J.T. Blankinship & Associates of Murphysboro at the aging pool to identify how nearly $20,000 in water disappeared last season.
The inspection seems to point to the seam between the stainless steel sidewalls of the diving end and the concrete floor as well as possibly the welded joints in the sidewall panels.
The pool, dedicated in 1978 as part of the Armstrong Municipal Pool Complex, has undergone periodic major repairs in recent years. But, losing $20,000 worth of water ($5,000 a month during the four months of summer use) has to stop.
The pool is the summer home to not only dozens of Du Quoin families, but also the championship Swimming Indians.
At Monday night's city council meeting, Alongi said opening the pool this season "sends the right message to Du Quoin's young people."
Stephens addressed the council with an assessment of problems at the Du Quoin swimming pool. The engineers say it will take $27,191 to seal the seams where the stainless steel sidewalls and the concrete floor meet. The pool is also in need of a new pump which is housed in a sump near the diving boards, which commissioner Spencer estimates will cost $2,700. In the short term, the building that houses the filtration and chlorination system is in need of a new door. Stephens explained that door has deteriorated and animals are getting into the building in the off season and chewing through wiring and supplies.
Stephens said if engineers can get a pool contractor like Midwest Pool on site quickly to make the short term repairs, he estimates the earliest opening date would be on or about Saturday, June 7 -- two weeks after the traditional Memorial Day weekend when school is out. The only other option is not to open the pool at all and work on a long term solution.
Alongi doesn't want to do that, but at the same time is mindful of commissioner Chuck Genesio's concern about city finances. Halfway through the discussions, Genesio asked if a decision could wait two weeks until he has a chance to be educated about the city's finances. He also understands the immediacy.
Any delay in a decision delays the start of the work.
In the long term, Stephens said the bottom of the pool needs to be replastered as a matter of aesthetics.
The ultimate solution is to construct just a pool on the existing site in years to come. The other buildings and facilities at the site are in relatively good condition. Engineers would be assigned the task of seeing if the current "L"-shaped pool can be excavated out and a new pool constructed on the same footprint.
"Shot in the dark" estimates put that cost at between $800,000 and $1.5 million.
In the absence of a tax supported park district and funds projects like this, the city will have to find a funding vehicle for such a large capital undertaking--grants or a niche revenue source like video gaming money.
Alongi said short term repairs can be paid for from two sources, about $11,000 in the gaming fund or $100,100 in the city's utility tax fund.