It will take $408,435 and another two months before the Simpson Park Pool is back up and running, Lakeland parks officials told city commissioners at their meeting Monday.
The pool has been closed since June 14 because of a liner that separated from the wall. Replacement of the liner will begin in the first week of September and take about a month to complete.
“It’s just disheartening for the community,” Commissioner Sara Roberts McCarley said of the summer shutdown. “This has given me a lot of heart palpitations.”
Why it matters: The Simpson Park Pool is the only public swimming pool serving north Lakeland. It is used for swimming lessons, summer camps and senior groups. For many children in the predominantly Black neighborhoods near the pool, it is their biggest form of summer recreation.
Quick history: Simpson Park Pool was built in 1988 as a marcite pool, a common soft plaster finish over concrete used on in-ground pools. In 2000 a PVC liner was installed to eliminate a leak in the original marcite shell. When that liner failed in 2013, it was replaced with a pre-engineered modular laminated steel panel and buttress system, including a new PVC liner on the pool floor which is exclusive technology to Myrtha Pools. The company installs pools worldwide, including the Olympic pool in Paris. It came with a 15-year warranty.
On June 14, city officials closed the pool after the liner separated from the pool wall, forming a bubble that floated to the top of the pool, creating a drowning hazard. Myrtha selected DRW Aquatics, a certified Myrtha installer, to perform the repair and installation.
Cost: The total cost of materials and installation is $461,488. However, the replacement liner is covered by a warranty, reducing the bill by $53,053. The city will pay $408,435 for installation.
In the meantime: Summer campers have been bused to the Kelly Recreation Complex on Imperial Blvd. to use the Gandy Swimming Pool.
Commissioners’ questions: McCarley and Commissioners Guy LaLonde and Mike Musick questioned the process for finding and dealing with issues. McCarley worked as a lifeguard at a public pool in Davenport throughout high school and college and said she is very familiar with public swimming pools.
“I just want to know the process of, like, being ahead of the curve,” Roberts McCarley asked. “Why don’t we have a system that isn’t going to bubble? And if it bubbled in May, was it bubbling in January? Like, why weren’t we able to attack this and take care of it before the months that are the hottest of the year for these children to go swimming?”
Unexpected worsening: Director of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Bob Donahay said a small bubble was found in the deep dive well about two to three weeks before school ended, which was in mid-May, and the company was contacted.
“They said don’t worry about it. If it stays small and stays in the dive well, then you can get through the summer … That would give us time to get our group there to help,” Donahay said. “Unfortunately, the bubble not only got bigger, but it moved. It moved to the shallow end to where it actually protruded the top of the water.”
Latest technology: Pam Page, assistant director of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts, said the Myrtha system is the latest technology for swimming pools. It is used by Florida Southern College, the University of Florida and the Olympic trials in Cincinnati.
She said there was another time when the liner tore after vandals climbed the fence and threw two lifeguard towers into the pool. City workers immediately patched those.
Underwater inspections? Musick asked if there was a daily procedure of “something as simple as anybody putting on goggles and swimming through there and looking at it on a regular basis to check.” Donahay said the department does that.
“Our team’s on top of it,” said Donahay. “It is just unfortunate because it happened … I agree it couldn’t happen at a worse time.”
Pool heater? LaLonde asked is Simpson Park Pool will ever be heated like Gandy Pool at Kelly Rec is.
Donahay said it would cost $300,000 to install a heater. If the facility is run year-round, it would cost an additional $558,000 to staff it and about $223,000 in additional operating costs, for a grand total of $782,000 in additional costs.
Adair Pool: LaLonde fondly recalled swimming in the Adair Pool once located on Lakeland Hills Boulevard. That pool was built in 1938 as a Works Progress Administration project and closed in 1988 for an expansion of Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center.
Donahay said it was a concrete pool that was maintained and repainted every other year. “That pool lasted forever. It would probably still be here today,” he said.
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