Upgraded city pool to make a splash

A worker with Madison Swimming Pools was busy in the deep end of the indoor pool at the Shelbyville Recreation Center Wednesday to install a new drain system mandated by federal law.
(T-G Photo by Brian Mosely) [Order this photo]

That's when Shelbyville's pool is planned to reopen following two weeks of work that began Sunday, according to Pam Henry, aquatics director for Shelbyville Recreation Center

Henry said the pool was closed after regular hours last Sunday, so that the pool could be emptied to make way for new drains mandated by the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act.

The new law, signed last December, mandates that all public pools in the country update their drain covers and/or drain systems to meet new, stricter standards and Shelbyville swimmers have been kept at the shallow end of the pool since that time.

Work has already been completed on the outdoor pool, since all that had to be done was to change the drain covers, Henry said, however, workers are busy cutting into the deep end of the indoor facility to make adjustments to the drain box, which will require welding and other minor construction.

After that is completed several more days will be required to fill the pool back up and get the temperature of the water back to normal, as well as balancing the chemicals in the pool.

"If all goes well, we should be back in business on May 4," Henry said, with the exception of the classes for seniors, due to the water still likely being cold.

City recreation director Sylvia Pinson said last year that pool manufacturers only had a year to make the mandated drains, and demand was high for the required parts. Henry said that they were on the hunt for parts several months before last year's law went into effect.

Henry said that several recreation centers chose to stay open despite the new law, and local governments weren't enforcing the local codes by shutting them down, but Shelbyville "took the proper approach," Henry said, by closing the pool.

City manager Ed Craig told the city council earlier this year that 80 percent of the public pools in the country have been closed "because they can't get this done."

The federal law was named for 7-year-old Virginia, the granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker, who drowned in 2002 after being sucked into a spa drain.