Salvador Perez soon dives into new era

After renovations, the decades-old recreation center poised to reopen

A long-awaited $2.48 million renovation of the city-owned Salvador Perez Recreation Center is finally complete and it is poised to reopen as early as next month.

“The city is working on a reopening schedule,” Kristine Mihelcic, constituent and council services director, said Thursday in an email. “Due to staffing and COVID, the tentative plan is to open Salvador Perez when Bicentennial Pool has closed for the season.”

The planned reopening of the cramped but popular recreation center on Alto Street may be unwelcome news for regulars of the Fort Marcy Recreation

Center near downtown, which has been closed since the beginning of the novel coronavirus pandemic and will likely remain closed for the foreseeable future. During budget hearings in July, city officials indicated they planned to reopen Fort Marcy after Bicentennial closed, though no decisions had been finalized at that time.

“Right now, the focus is to reopen Salvador Perez when Bicentennial closes,” Mihelcic said in a telephone interview.

Bicentennial Pool, the only cityowned outdoor pool, usually closes around Memorial Day. The closing is typically marked with an annual “Doggie Dip” in which canines are allowed in the pool. But COVID-19 — and its economic aftermath — have thrown past practices out the door.

The outdoor pool remained closed over much of the summer. The city reopened the facility in the beginning

of August after swimmers pressured Mayor Alan Webber and other government officials. Weather permitting, the city plans to keep the pool open until early October.

Swimmers are now asking the city to keep Bicentennial open even longer.

“I am in total agreement with the idea of extending [Bicentennial’s] swim season,” Lawrence Fodor, who this summer spearheaded a campaign to reopen the pool, wrote in an email Thursday to Liz Roybal, recreation complex manager.

“The weather forecast is favorable — sunny skies with highs in the 70’s and 80’s. Perfect fall weather for swimming outside and in a healthier and safer environment than an indoor facility. No question,” wrote Fodor, who received multiple replies voicing support for the idea.

Roybal could not be reached for comment late Thursday.

In the telephone interview, Mihelcic said the city is looking at trying to keep Bicentennial Pool open “as long as possible to accommodate the requests of the constituents there.”

Mihelcic said “a lot of constituents really enjoy the outdoor pool” and have asked for an extension.

“Tentatively, we’ve said that we would stay open through Oct. 2, which is almost a month longer than we’ve ever stayed open before at Bicentennial,” she said. “We’re monitoring forecasts and other things to see how we could actually accommodate that request.”

Mihelcic said the “project scope” at Salvador Perez was completed in July. The project, which was supposed to be finished by the start of 2020, encountered what the city’s former spokeswoman called “unpleasant discoveries” along the way. The major overhaul to the decades-old facility included improvements to the natatorium and pool, the ventilation and air circulation systems, the so-called building envelope, the locker rooms and Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility.

Four general contractors have been working simultaneously to complete the project, according to the city. B&D Industries handled the building envelope and structural integrity of the building; Ameresco was responsible for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system; FacilityBUILD oversaw the locker room upgrades; and PoolPro LLC took care of the pool resurfacing work.

Recreation Director John Muñoz said the prospect of reopening facilities was exciting.

“Recreation is important to residents’ well-being, mentally and physically, so we are excited to move forward with opening plans for our recreational sites,” he said.

The Genoveva Chavez Community Center on Rodeo Road reopened in mid-July after a monthslong shutdown.