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Countdown to new pool

No opening date is set, but asecond pool at North Shore is almost finished.

By ROBBYN MITCHELL
Published June 18, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - As workers finish the fencing and lay the last of the concrete, the North Shore pool construction project appears to be winding down.

The contractors and city agree that work could be completed by the first week of July, but there is no tentative open date.

"It could open anywhere from mid July to late August depending on the construction," said Gretchen Tinbrock, manager of pools for city recreation.

Construction of a second pool, 25 yards by 25 meters, began in late August.

The new facility, which will be joined by a new pool house and ticket office, will include a wheelchair ramp that leads to the water.

Project costs topped out at almost $2.75-million.

Workers have faced their share of challenges with the new building, but remain ahead of schedule.

Scott Rankin of Biltmore Construction said the project end date for the construction is Aug. 2. He said he's confident that work will finish a whole month before that date.

"We begin the punch inspection process with the fire department and the city on June 29. If everything goes right, then we will turn the pool over to the city that day," the company's superintendent said.

After that, the city is free to open the pool to the public. Biltmore will continue to inspect the pool and fix any small problems until the end date.

The new building features two wheelchair-accessible showers and bathrooms.

Ed Villandry, the site foreman for Joswig Construction, said the new building's design was a challenge at times. There are few squares and rectangles in the architecture, and angling the cement is not as easy as it looks, Villandry said.

A major project for the workers was the 28-foot canopy entrance, which is made from 100 tons of concrete.

Because the canopy's top goes up at an angle, the foreman said he had trouble making everything line up.

Other challenges came in the form of Tropical Storm Alberto, which delayed pouring of the walkways for four days.

Tinbrock, the city's manager of pools, said she hopes to add land based programs like aerobics and calisthenics in the new building and tie them to the water aerobics classes, which are already in place.

Tinbrock said that sometime after the opening of the new North Shore pool, the recreation department plans to add a "sprayground" to the facilities. The structure is designed to be a water playground with squirt guns and figures with water coming out of them for children to play in.

No construction date has been set for the attraction, which is still being designed, but Tinbrock said it could be as early as August. She estimates that the sprayground will take four months to complete.

[Last modified June 18, 2006, 07:40:17]