Swimmers can expect to dive back into USF St. Petersburg’s Waterfront pool early next year.
After meeting with engineers over the summer and weighing the cost-to-benefit of each possible solution, the university has decided to repair the pool and reopen it next spring, according to USFSP Regional Vice Chancellor for Administrative and Financial Services Joseph Trubacz.
Since the pool closed on Nov. 27, 2013 due to structural problems, the university has pondered its options.
When The Crow’s Nest reported the pool’s structural problems last October, the university wasn’t sure whether to repair it, estimated at about $500,000, or replace it with a replica model for about $750,000. Another far more expensive option was to build a pool for the future, estimated at about $1.5 million.
Repairing the pool would not be a guaranteed fix, Campus Waterfront told The Crow’s Nest last October. The cost of building a new university-grade pool was also too much since the Waterfront only had access to $1.1 million, coming from the Capital Improvement Trust Fund. So the pool has been closed since last fall.
Trubacz said that the university’s decision to repair the existing pool and not build a new one is based on money. Since the original estimates in 2013, Trubacz said, the cost of a new pool has increased.
“(Money) is the main factor,” Trubacz said. “The cost of building a new pool at the time would have been $1.5 million.”
The structural issues, discovered almost six years ago, include cracks in the gutter system – responsible for returning water to the filter through four collection boxes – surrounding the pool. The cracks caused the chemical-containing water to miss the filter and leak into the ground.
The university needs to determine whether they want to upgrade the gutter system to stainless steel or use an improved version of the current material. To solve this issue, the university is working with Aquamarine, the Clearwater-based pool company that did the pool’s first significant repairs in 1985.
“They’re very familiar with the pool,” said Jim Grant, USFSP project manager.
Along with the repair, the pool’s filtration system and main drainage system – installed in the 1930s underneath the pool’s deep end – will be replaced.
The current filtration system is manually operated and uses diatomaceous earth, a sedimentary rock that is ground into white powder to catch fine particles that could pass through and clog the filter, the new one will be automatic and use sand.
Grant said that switching to an automatic filtration system will be convenient and safer because people won’t need to constantly handle chemicals. He also said that a small pump house will be built for it.
Removing the existing drainage system, however, would require breaking through the pool’s floor. Instead, the new system will be built on the surface of the 11-foot deep end and the area will be resurfaced, decreasing its depth to about 9 feet. Stairs will be built into the shallow end.
Trubacz said that Aquamarine estimated the total job cost with stainless steel gutters at about $400,000, while the other material would substantially lower the price.
Like the pool’s first repairs, Trubacz and Grant said that these will be made to last.
“I wouldn’t invest money into it if I didn’t think it would be a long-lasting project,” Trubacz said.
“The repairs we’re looking at now are definitely permanent,” Grant said.
In 2012, the university planned to use the construction-related Capital Improvement Trust Fund to build a new pool. That idea was shot down in May 2013 by a university legislative vote that capped CITF spending at 30 percent. The approved funding wasn’t enough for a new pool, but it will factor into the repairs.
The money was first used for the new campus volleyball courts and the remainder will go toward the pool, which Trubacz said should be a little more than $500,000.
When the pool closed last November, its programs, including USF College of Marine Science summer camps and Safety at Sea, which teaches sailing safety, went with it. But the university found other positions for its displaced employees.
“(Lifeguards) were able to seamlessly transition from lifeguard responsibilities to similar Campus Recreation responsibilities … no one lost their job in the closing of the pool,” said Zac Oppenheim, assistant director of Campus Recreation.
To compensate for its losses, the university developed two cost-effective aquatic programs that take advantage of the campus’ waterfront location – Fishing and Tow Sports. In addition to the new programs, the university has increased its boating Adventure Trips to Egmont Key.
“USFSP(‘s) Student Government Association … awarded capital and operating funds to two new watercraft programs while keeping the direct out-of-pocket costs to the students low or non-existent,” Oppenheim said.
Right now wakeboarding – available every other Friday – is the lone activity of the Tow Sports program, but there are plans to add waterskiing and tubing to its list. Fishing is available most Mondays.
