Troy's municipal swimming pools have been closed going on three summers. Repairs have stalled the re-opening of the South Troy pool, but it could be open to swimmers next month.
Mayor Patrick Madden says the opening of the South Troy Pool, which along with the Knickerbacker pool has been closed for two summers, had to be pushed back because of construction delays after the focus shifted from repair to remediation. "Conditions revealed themselves, as they always do in renovation projects, that changed the approach. We did have to have some items manufactured and ship to the site. Some of those are beginning to arrive now."
The bath house at the 57-year-old pool has been insulated, repainted and rewired. It features a new filtration system. LED lighting will help save energy costs. The changing rooms sport new fixtures. A new roof with 14 skylights has been installed. Mechanical components, chlorine and water tanks and plumbing are being replaced. Madden spokesman John Salka: "There were a lot of unforeseen issues that arose, following the start of the project once the crews had stripped all the paint off the concrete walls. There were some additional deficiencies that were found that needed to be addressed. As a result the city moved forward with a gutter and liner system in order to build a, create a longer useful life for the pool."
Troy Chief Engineering Aide Todd Dickinson says new components are now being installed. "They actually had to come in and vertically saw cut the old gutter system out. The new gutter system we've opted to go with, the liner and gutter, what you see here are these threaded stainless steel rods and leveling bars. The company that actually fabricates these has their own welding team that come sin. Everything has to be dead level, so this entire gutter system, what they're doing right now with the springs and the leveling bars, they tack weld those bars in place, get that gutter, a nice surface for that gutter to sit on, and everything gets welded in place in the field."
The liner system, yet to be installed, will feature a felt liner with a commercial grade liner overlay. The entire renovation will bring the site in compliance with current building code.
Mayor Madden: "What we have looked at initially here would have been about a five-year fix. Now we're looking at something that with proper care should last us at least two decades."
Salka says the mayor knows how much the pool means to city residents. "It's been a challenge the last couple years but we finally now have the capacity to move forward on this project."
Dickinson believes the 295,000-gallon pool could be open by early August. "Weather dependent, and a lot of other things. There's a lot of subcontractors on this job that are coming in from other areas. A lot of them are local, but their work schedule, you know, we're trying to fit this in."
A $1.4 million bond paid for the rehabilitation of the site.
