Palolo pool
repairs approved

After several delays, the city
will reopen the pool this week

After more than a year under repair, the Palolo Valley District Pool should be ready for swimmers this week.

Really.

Repair to about 200 square feet of tile on the 10,000-square-foot bottom of the pool was approved by city inspectors yesterday, said KD Construction President Dan Ching.

"We tested it this morning. We had the city there and they said everything's OK," Ching said yesterday afternoon. "We're filling it up right now."

Sometime today the pool should be full and tomorrow city Parks and Recreation crews can assess when they'll be able to reopen the pool, Ching said.

"That will be good news to people in Palolo," said Bill Balfour, city parks director. "I'm very, very happy for the people of Palolo. They've been very, very patient."

The reopening of the pool has been delayed several times, most recently because adhesive being used to attach tiles to the pool floor wasn't holding.

K.D. Construction had the $330,000 general contract to repair the pool, with subcontractor A-1 Construction responsible for the tiling work.

The city originally wanted the entire pool retiled, but agreed to just replacing problematic portions of the tile after K.D. Construction agreed to extend its warranty for the job from one to five years.

The retiling work was originally scheduled to be completed in February.

"We'll be so grateful when the pool is open for the people of Palolo valley, particularly the senior citizens," said Palolo Neighborhood Board member Gladys Gerlich-Hayes. "Even though children enjoy it in the summertime, the senior citizens use it most."

Gerlich-Hayes said that because of this experience, "we're hoping that the city will be more careful with their contractors."

Ching said the replacement of tile was hampered by daily rains in Palolo Valley.

He's glad the job is over, Ching said, "but the main thing is kids can jump in the pool again."