Howell County News/ Ron Mendez

Willow Springs City Pool on Track to Reopen

The city pool in Willow Springs is scheduled to reopen Memorial Day weekend. City Administrator Beverly Hicks updated the City Council on the status of the pool’s repairs at the regular April meeting. 
The water park and pool were closed for the 2020 season due in large part to concerns relating to COVID-19, but the empty facility allowed for the City to pursue large-scale repairs. In Hick’s April 15 update, she summarized the work that has been done over the past year. 
The pool’s liner has been leaking for years into the surrounding ground. Freeze/thaw cycles over the years pulverized the concrete supporting the pool into a, “gravel like substance,” which only further damaged the liner and made the leaking worse. 
A St. Louis-based contractor, Westport Pool, worked in conjunction with City employees to tear up the liner and large sections of the pool deck to expose and finally repair all the damaged sections of plumbing.
“We now have a water system at the pool that holds pressure,” reports Hicks. 
Crews worked at the pool last week to install the new liner, a process the City anticipates will take two to three weeks to complete. In the process of installing the new liner, the lip of the pool was discovered to be “soft” and crumbled under the slightest pressure. City crews scrambled to implement a plan to obtain materials for emergency repair of the pool edge so the installation of the liner could continue as scheduled. They purchased two-inch schedule 80 pipe which was cut in half and installed as a grab-edge. The pool is expected to hold water by May 1 in preparation for the 2021 pool season. 
The original projected cost for pool repairs was $150,000, and to date, the City has spent $165,449. 
At this time, the pool is projected to open on Saturday, May 29. Entry fees for pool use will stay the same for this season and will cost $3 for one-day entry, with discounted fees of $2 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Individual season passes will cost $65, and family passes will cost $150 for up to a family of five, with a $25 for each additional person.

Howell County News

110 W. Main St.,
Willow Springs, MO 65793
417-252-2123

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