Nearly five years after a leak was detected in the USF St. Petersburg pool, a solution remains unmet.
According to Zac Oppenheim, assistant director of Campus Recreation, the surface of the pool water runs into gutters, which direct it into the pool’s filter. Though there is no specific point of leakage, some of the water is spilling into the ground and not making it into the filter. The problem apparently resides in the plumbing, not the pool’s foundation.
Initially, the Waterfront staff sought to correct the problem. Oppenheim said three pool contractors came to assess the facility. The first two contractors said they would fix the pool for about $500,000. This fix would have no warranty, and the companies did not want to hear from USFSP after they completed the work, even if it did not solve the problem. The third contractor told Oppenheim they weren’t interested in repairing the pool.
Oppenheim said the Waterfront did not want to throw away $500,000 on a repair that might be unsuccessful. USFSP administration raised the question of how much would it cost to replace the pool.
Oppenheim discovered it would cost about $750,000 to replace the pool, matching its current standards.
The Waterfront’s pool was not originally built as a university swimming pool. Between the years of 1939-1950, the USFSP campus was a U.S. Maritime Service Training Station. The swimming pool was built during that time to serve those training on campus.
“We don’t want to build a pool for what we were,” Oppenheim said. “We want to build a pool for what we are.”
Building a pool to fit USFSP means building a “state of the art leisure pool,” Oppenheim said. A pool built to these standards could cost $1.5 million.
Last year, the Waterfront planned to build a new pool using the Capital Improvement Trust Fund, which is used for construction related projects. Though students pay CITF fees, they are separate from activity and service fees.
A university legislative vote made in May capped CTIF spending at no more than 30 percent of the total at a time. This means the Waterfront would only have access $1.1 million for the pool, which Oppenheim said, “wouldn’t get us a pool to take us into the future.”
Since there isn’t enough money in the CITF, there are no definite dates to replace the pool.
For now, the Waterfront staff must wait. Oppenheim doesn’t know how much water is leaking into the ground, but he knows water loss is happening at an increasing rate.
Two sources now fill the pool with water. The filter constantly recycles water through and and a hose extends from the Waterfront office when weather conditions don’t provide enough replacement water. Balancing the chemicals in the pool has also become increasingly difficult, as chemicals leak into the ground with the water.
“It’s not good,” Oppenheim said.
