
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 10, 1994                   TAG: 9408100053
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-7   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Short

COUNTY, INSURER NEAR PRICE ON POOL REPAIR

Montgomery County is nearing agreement with its insurance carrier on the cost of repairing the Mid-County Park Pool, which was severely damaged by an equipment failure during the winter's harsh weather.

But if you're dying for a dip, better go to Blacksburg. The public pool won't open this summer.

The county announced in May that the pool - the only public one in the Christiansburg area - would be closed for the season.

Even if a repair price is agreed to this month - early estimates put the figure at $250,000 or more - the pool will not open any sooner than next spring, said County Administrator Betty Thomas.

The county's insurance adjustor has said that Montgomery's policy through the Virginia Municipal League will cover the repairs, Thomas said.

Three independent damage estimates now are being made. After the county and the insurer agree to a price, repairs can begin.

"Our goal is to have it open next summer," Thomas said. She blamed red tape for the three-month wait to learn whether he pool would be covered by insurance.

The pool, built in the late 1970s, was damaged during the winter when a valve that controlled pressure between the structure and groundwater beneath it failed. County workers discovered collapsed concrete decking around the deep end and huge cracks in the concrete pool when they went to prepare it for opening in May.

by CNB