PRYMCA pool reopening planned for middle of the month
DOVER-FOXCROFT — Piscataquis Regional YMCA officials want to share an update on the status of the facility pool, CEO Deb Boyd wrote in a message posted on the organization website and social media pages. “It has certainly been interesting… challenging… and confusing. This is what has been going on,” Boyd said.
Boyd explained, “During our COVID shutdown, we made the decision to upgrade our air handling system. This was required maintenance since parts/materials were becoming obsolete within 2020. Once we completed that work, we were very excited and told all of our members we would be opening the pool in October. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
“Once we filled the pool with water we suddenly realized that the pool was not holding the water. We had to drain the remaining water and asked several experts to come in and assess the situation to determine what was happening. As it turns out, we had several things happening all at once. We were able to identify several cracks in the bottom of the pool that needed to be patched and sealed. We also found a hole within the wall of our trench system. In order to address the hole in the trench, we were required to completely disassemble all of the PVC pipe system within the trench around the pool to thoroughly seal the area. This work has been completed and we have now reassembled the pipes. We hadn’t anticipated the need for an additional final seal on the cracks, which has added one additional week to our timeline. Unfortunately, because we thoroughly believed we would be filling the pool this week, we proactively planned and scheduled our communication on social media, adding to the confusion. We apologize. Here is the most up to date timeline that we can share with you:
“This week, as soon as the product arrives, we will be placing our final seal on the cracks. That final seal will require three days to cure and we anticipate filling the pool on Monday, Jan. 11. It will take us about two days to fill the pool and then two additional days to circulate chemicals and heat the water. As soon as we get the thumbs up we will have our pool open for business. At this time, barring any more unexpected surprises, we are anticipating that day will be Friday, Jan. 15. Our Waves swim team will begin on Monday, Jan. 18.
“It has certainly taken a village to get us to where we are today. We want to thank many people for their support in this project;
Old Town Orono YMCA volunteers for their help with our trench systems, and funding this project.
PRYMCA board members for volunteering with prepping the pool and problem solving.
Gordon Contracting for addressing the needs with the interior of the pool and connecting us to Standard Waterproofing for the repairs in the trench,
Eric Engelman for volunteering his pool expertise and helping us to problem solve.
We know that our members have been disappointed to have the pool closed for so long — trust me — we have to! But we are very excited at the thought of having a completely secure and functioning pool that will be in good standing for many years to come. We thank all of our members for your patience and we invite you to come and enjoy our pool once again.”