THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 15, 1995 TAG: 9509140142
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
The swimming pool at the Great Neck Recreation Center was closed this week and pools at two other city recreation centers will have to be closed over the next few months for repairs.
No more than one pool will be closed at any one time between now and next spring, City Engineer John Herzke said, and the remainder of the recreation centers will not be affected by the work.
The pools at Great Neck, Bayside and Princess Anne recreation centers require extensive repairs because of flaws in the facilities' design, Herzke said. Humidity levels are unusually high in the pool rooms, rusting out mechanical equipment and pool lights, Herzke said.
The city is involved in litigation with the centers' architect, who blames the problems on improper maintenance.
Work at Great Neck, the oldest of the city's recreation centers, will take the longest because it is the most extensive. A new air handling system will have to be installed in both the Great Neck and Bayside pool rooms.
The pool was closed on Monday and is not expected to be reopened until late November or early December.
About 16,000 people used the Great Neck pool last year between September and December.
Work on the Bayside pool room will begin in early January and should be completed in six to eight weeks, Herzke said. The Princess Anne pool will be closed after that for a shorter period of time.
Aquatics classes will be expanded at the open centers to make up for the pool closures, said Victoria Magee, of the Parks and Recreation Department. MEMO: For information on new class schedules and on the timing of closures,
call the Great Neck center at 496-6766; Bayside at 460-7540; and
Princess Anne at 426-0022. by CNB