Pool repair to cost $100,000

A failed cable caused the ceiling tiles at the St. Catharines Kiwanis Aquatics Centre to fall to the deck last month, resulting in a $100,000 repair job.

When the cable failed on July 4, it pulled down the acoustic tiles and a lighting tube, the city’s investigation at the Carlton Street facility found.

Initial repairs to the ceiling and lights to get the pools open again will begin Wednesday, with a replacement of the broken tiles later on,

“What we wanted to concentrate on was reinforcing the ceiling tiles that are still up there, so we’re confident a similar thing isn’t going to happen with them,” said Dan Dillon, director of transportation and environmental services.

“Then we’ll re-open the pool and at a later date arrange to replace the ceiling tiles that fell.”

Dillon said it appears the cable holding the suspended ceiling tiles wasn’t fastened tight enough. When it started to come loose, the system started falling and some of the cables snapped.

The pools at the five-year-old facility have been closed since July 4 when the tiles crashed onto the deck while the pool was in use. No one was injured and the city said quick-thinking staff made sure the pool area was evacuated.

Since then the city has been investigating what happened, coming up with a design to reinforce the system and receiving pricing from contractors.

Repairs are now scheduled to last into the middle of September, but it’s too early to know if it will affect fall programming.

Crews will reinforce the existing ceiling tiles and support cables, replace lighting tubes that fell and reinforce those still up.

The acoustic tiles that fell down will be installed later because of an extended delivery time. Those tiles, which Dillon said will add to the $100,000 cost, aren’t required to support the ceiling.

An exact date for the pool reopening is not known, but parks staff can’t wait.

“We want to thank the public for their patience and understanding while this is happening,” said Phil Cristi, acting director of parks, recreation and culture services. “We’re looking forward to welcoming everyone back in the pool once everything is fixed.”

Fall programs at the pool begin on Sept. 11 and the city’s leisure guide with information about them comes out shortly.

Cristi said they’ll have to determine if repairs will cut into the start of the season. Once they’ve determined that, they’ll have to make a decision about whether they can start on time or push back the start dates.

He said it won’t affect the city’s ability to take people’s registrations.

“You can still register, it’s just that your start date may change. We are going to be accepting registrations as per usual. That’s our intent.”

Over the summer, the department added extra hours to its outdoor pools and reached out to community partners to try and accommodate swimmers and lessons already booked at Kiwanis. Outdoor pools continue to run with Lincoln Park Pool open until Aug. 27 and the Port Dalhousie Pool and Lion Dunc Schooley Pool open until Sept. 4.

Splash pads are open until the end of September.