State gets plan to fix park pool

A plan to repair the swimming pool at Withrow Springs State Park in Madison County was submitted to the state’s Division of Building Authority on Tuesday.

Jordan Thomas, chief planner for Arkansas State Parks, said approval could come any day.

A state engineer has estimated the repair will cost $211,688.

Thomas said he hopes the state can begin soliciting bids later this month and have the construction completed so the pool can open Memorial Day weekend, which is the last weekend in May.

The pool was closed this past summer for the first time in 50 years.

It’s the only public swimming pool in Madison County, and for half a century it was the summer hangout for children from Huntsville and surrounding communities.

But just days before it was scheduled to open over Memorial Day weekend for the summer in 2018, the state parks division announced the pool 5 miles north of Huntsville would remain closed throughout the summer because of safety concerns.

“An engineering investigation into the pool’s supporting

walls found the potential for a catastrophic failure to be so severe that even park staff cannot enter the area,” according to a news release last spring. “The very real risk of bodily harm had to be top priority when arriving at the conclusion to keep visitors out of this part of the park for now.”

Thomas said the work will include replacing most of the concrete block of two walls that support the pool deck and mechanical room. Another wall and a section of the cracking pool deck also will be replaced.

The pool usually remains open until Labor Day in September.

Earl Minton, superintendent at Withrow Springs State Park, said the pool

was built in 1967 and 1968. He said it was renovated in 1997 and 1998.

The renovation eliminated a barrier separating the deep end from the shallow end of the pool. The result was an 86-by-35-foot swimming pool with a depth that ranged from 1 to 9 feet. Minton said a kiddie pool also was added at that time.

Arkansas State Parks is a division of the state Department of Parks and Tourism.

Withrow Springs was one of seven state parks with swimming pools. The others are Crater of Diamonds at Murfreesboro, Devil’s Den near West Fork, Lake Chicot in Lake Village, Lake Fort Smith near Mountainburg, Mount Nebo at Dardanelle and Petit Jean near Morrilton.