Gowanda eyes emergency swimming pool repair

Jun 5, 2023

Submitted Photo Matt Cummings of Young & Wright Architectural gave a presentation about the district pool at a recent Gowanda Board of Education meeting.

GOWANDA — According to Gowanda Superintendent Dr. Robert Anderson, "The pool has been a hot topic for quite some time."

To address that topic, Matt Cummings of Young & Wright Architectural gave a presentation to district officials and the Board of Education at a recent meeting about where the pool currently stands and what options the district has.

"We finally have received information from (New York State Education Department) Office of Facilities Planning that we’ve been desperately waiting for – for well over a year now," Cummings said.

Cummings stated that several years ago as part of a capital improvement project, the State Education Department highlighted a discrepancy in the building aid calculation. Because of that, the project manager would not allow the district to submit any more projects for the Middle/High School.

"We’ve kind of been in a dead zone until they resolved this," Cummings said. "… We’ve since pleaded with them to, at least, allow us to work with the district to get a pool repair project underway."

Cummings first discussed an emergency pool repair project, then later discussed a future pool project, as well. A future pool project could begin construction in 2027, if the district decides it wants to expand the pool from its current design. The repairs are expected to last longer than that timeframe, if the district chooses to hold off on a new pool project.

Cummings noted that in 2020, the district drained the pool with the intention of doing minor repair work on the drains. When that was done, more serious issues were discovered, including corroded connections that left the drains unable to function properly.

As part of the proposed emergency pool repairs, Young & Wright Architectural would remove and replace all gutter drain, vacuum line and inlet fittings; as well as install a new stainless steel gutter system around the perimeter of the pool, a tablet chlorine feeder, and a chemical controller. Some tiles will need to be replaced, and the pool will need an acid wash and re-grout.

Cummings showed pictures of "problem areas" of the current pool, including drains that were "completely rusted out." Cummings said, "Those are areas that we’re looking to address in this emergency project."

Initial estimates for the emergency pool repair are between $300,000 and $400,000, according to Cummings, though that figure could increase depending on how much tile replacement is required. The project would be state-aided. Receiving state aid for the repairs would not impact future state aid because the project is deemed a repair, rather than a new project.

The district is able to fund the repair work in the current fiscal year through its fund balance. A resolution to do so could come as early as the next Board of Education meeting on Wednesday.

Cummings said he is "trying to expedite this as quickly as possible," regarding the emergency pool repair timeline "… because we know time is of the essence for the district, especially now that we have (NYSED) green-lighting us on that."

Mid-summer is a target for Cummings to receive state approval for the repairs. A bid package will likely be put out to local contractors, even though bid process is not required as part of the emergency repair project. "I would hope to be able to award contracts to a pool contractor before the end of the summer," Cummings said, noting work itself would likely begin in the fall.

To gauge public interest, the district conducted a poll at its recent budget vote. In the poll, 72 respondents voted in support of repairing the pool even if the repairs are short-term, with only 19 against. Support of a larger capital project for a new pool had 70 votes in favor and 20 votes against. Only 30 voters reported having children in the district currently, while 63 did not. Of the voters, 86 stated they received adequate information to vote, while six did not.

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