The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Plan to improve city pool advances
Use of in-house services, local labor will cut costs, public works chief says
MIDDLETOWN — The $2 million project to completely redo Veterans Memorial Pool into a beautifully landscaped complex including a splash pad, upgraded bathhouse and parking areas will get underway after the summer season ends.
Funding will come from the $33.5 million parks bond voters passed in 2015, and inhouse services will save a great deal of money, said Public Works Director William Russo, who couldn’t give an exact figure. He compared the savings to last year’s work at Crystal Lake, originally estimated at $1.6 million. The final price tag was between $950,000 and $975,000, “significant savings,” he said, of almost $650,000 using local laborers.
“We’re basically the general contractor on the job rather than having someone come in,” he said. “With COVID, everyone suffered. I do whatever is in my power to put Middletown tradespeople to work.”
Renderings show a C-shaped pool area, shaded picnic tables and benches, a large bathhouse, new parking areas and lots of green space.
The 63-year-old outdoor recreation area, on a hill 25 feet above Walnut Hill Road, has outlived its lifespan, according to Russo. “It’s tired. When constructed, it will probably be the most modern, beautiful pool that can be built.”
Many longtime residents talk about having learned to swim there, Russo said. “Like any other facility in Middletown, it has tons of history,” he said.
It will feature state-of-the-art technology, and be entirely ADA-compliant, with a zero-entry walkway, as compared to the current, cumbersome chair lift for the handicapped, the director said. “Building codes then are not what they are now,” he said.
“We’re basically the general contractor on the job rather than having someone come in.” William Russo, Middletown public works director
The project is a collaboration between the engineering and landscape architecture firm Milone & MacBroom of Cheshire, edm Architecture - Engineering - Management of Unionville, and Aquattica Pools & Water Parks of New York.
The master plan, presented at the January Common Council meeting, can be accessed at middletownct.gov.
Part of the design includes a new splash pad on the lower level of the site, separate from the pool, to allow better access for the public, according to edm. A $200,000 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant for the splash pad was approved at Wednesday night’s Public Works & Facilities Commission meeting, Russo said.
The building is built into the hill so people can access from the water feature on the lower level and the pool on the upper level.
The director has gotten more questions about the splash pad from people than any other other facet of the project, he said. Shaded areas will be incorporated into the design throughout, and a concept of a beach area is also being floated, Russo said.
The six-lane pool will be used for public sessions, Vet’s Pool Summer Swim Team activity, and can be rented out for meets and travel teams, Russo said. Recreation & Community Services‘ new aquatics director will manage the facility once complete.
What used to be the storage room in the basement of the building is being turned into public restrooms, making the building location and renovation very convenient for both the upper pool and the lower splash pad, edm said on its website.
Parking spots will be far enough away from the pool to keep the facility safe from incidents, such as an accident a few years back when a motorist hit the gas pedal instead of the brake, crashed through the fence and ended up in the kiddie pool, Russo said. “It was a minor miracle there. Thank God there was no one in the pool,” he said.
The city’s multi-use trail will be connected nearby at Jackson Street, near the Water and Sewer Department on Berlin Court, so North End residents can safely walk or bike under Newfield Street/Route 3 to the site, Russo said. It will run by the Coginchaug River, behind the Sports Hall of Fame on Bernie O’Rourke Drive and end at West and Washington streets, allowing pedestrians and bicyclists to avoid the busy highway, Russo said.
Work will be done concurrently with that at Veterans Park.
Security cameras will be positioned throughout, just as with all other city facilities,
he said. “Anybody can look up and see eyes in the sky,” he said.
The hope is to start demolition after Labor Day weekend, with work continuing as long as possible before winter sets in. It’s expected to reopen for the 2022 summer season, Russo said.
The next Public Works & Facilities Commission meeting is May 12 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall Room 208. For information, visit middletownct.gov.