Cool: New pool opens tomorrow

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Water features at the new Gilley Pool were too much for 5-year-old Lilly Marttala to resist yesterday. After a one-week delay, the new pool will open to the public at 10 a.m. tomorrow. (Amy Satterwhite photo)

The water is flowing at Gilley Pool and officials have declared it will be opened to the public tomorrow at 10 a.m.

“It’s a go,” Mayor Royce Davenport said after meeting with city leaders and contractors yesterday afternoon in a last-minute effort to ensure everything was in order at the pool, which has been under construction for a year.

Plagued by rainfall and problems with receiving the wrong-powered pumps for the water features, the pool’s opening was delayed for one week after city officials decided last Thursday there were too many problems to meet last weekend’s scheduled opening date.

Deciding they did not want to rush workers, they set a tentative opening for tomorrow in hopes no more rain delays or other problems arose, with plans to meet again this week.

Contractors told city officials Wednesday most of their concerns from last week were being addressed, with some fine tuning still in order. A major lingering concern was the delivery of water feature pumps and making sure the pumps were working properly.

“The motors did not produce the gallons per minute required to run all the features and they had to go back and adjust the rpm’s,” Parks and Recreation Director Carlene Brown said.

“They arrived here Tuesday night and Wednesday, they did the adjustments and installation and at about 7 p.m. Wednesday night, they got everything running,” she added. “They ran it all night long and everything was fine.”

With those items addressed, city officials said Thursday they felt confident the pool was ready to open. It will also be open for Project Graduation tonight, Davenport officially announced.

Site superintendent Mike Logan of C&H Commercial Contractors said laborers have been doing their best to ensure the pool’s opening tomorrow, with the pumps as one of the last orders of business.

“The pump motors, that was our biggest concern. Those are what attracts everybody to the pool, are the water features. Without the water features, it’s just another swimming pool,” Logan said.

Company President Don Hershman said he was satisfied overall with the pool project, but noted a subcontractor’s tile work, which city officials said was unsatisfactory last week, would be corrected in the fall.

“Some of the tile that came in from the manufacturer had chips in it and they put it down anyway trying to make the deadline. That was a mistake on their part and that will be taken back up in the fall and put back down,” Hershman said.

City officials said they were also pleased with the estimated $2 million facility as a whole and seemed to be relieved the project, which started as an idea at least four years ago after reporting the old pool had major leaks and other problems, was finally ready for general use.

The pool will be open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 6 p.m. Brown noted the pool has a new entrance, located near the Jungle Jym. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. tomorrow.