It won’t be as long a break as last summer, but Penticton’s community pool will be closed for an extended period again this summer.
The pool usually closes for three weeks in the summer, but in 2015, it was closed for an extended length of time, (Read: Leisure pool now operational) first to replace unsuitable tiles on the walkways, and then the leisure pool remained closed after cracks were found in fibreglass drain pipes below the pool.
This year the pool will be closed for six weeks starting July 30.
“We are closing for the additional three weeks because when we drain the pools, we have to check and repair the drains in the main pool,” said Lori Mullin, recreation and culture manager for the City of Penticton.
Mullin describes this as preventative maintenance. Since the main pool was open and operating while work was being done on the leisure pool last year, they are unsure if it is suffering from the same problem.
“We don’t know exactly until they drain the pool and go in,” said Mullin, adding that they are hoping to prevent the same problem from happening. The problem with the leisure pool was identified when staff realized water levels were dropping.
“We are not losing any water, so we don’t anticipate there are any cracks in it,” said Mullin. “What we want to do is ensure that it won’t crack in the future. Until we drain, we won’t know for sure.”