BONNYVILLE – The Town of Bonnyville has extended the closure of the town’s swimming pool indefinitely as the installation of new equipment poses challenges for the project’s contractor.
Community members and parents of children registered for swimming lessons were informed of the extended pool closure on Friday.
“Due to unforeseen circumstances, the opening of the Bonnyville Swimming Pool will be later than we had initially thought. The facility is currently closed until further notice,” read a statement released by the Town.
The swimming pool was only slated to be closed from Jan. 30 – Feb. 12, while the pool’s salination tank was upgraded. However, challenges arising from the equipment’s replacement have caused an indefinite delay in reopening the facility.
“The issue we’re having at the pool at this time is the installation of our salination tank, which is what is used to add salt to the pool water. We had the old one removed but the contractor has run into a couple of snags for the installation of the new tank,” Joe Kopala, the acting general manager of Planning and Community Services, told Lakeland Today in a statement.
He continued, “The maneuvering room at the pool is extremely tight and the contractor has had to make and modify some equipment in order to have the tank moved into place.”
The hope is that the contractor will be able to install the tank by early next week, says Kopala.
Once the tank is installed, it will take a couple of days to have the pool water circulated and treated to meet Alberta Health Services guidelines.
When the complications were first noted, management pushed back the reopening date earlier last week with hopes that the swimming pool would be ready for residents to use by Feb. 21.
“Due to the uncertainty surrounding the completion date for this project, the decision was made to close the pool indefinitely until a solid date is known,” he said.
As soon as a reopening date is determined, the Town will inform the public while pool staff will contact parents to let them know when lessons will start up again.
