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Posted on Mon, Jul 9, 2012 : 11:46 a.m.

Veterans Memorial Park Pool remains on schedule to reopen Wednesday

By Pete Cunningham

Replacement parts for the broken main pool pump at Veteran’s Memorial Park Pool arrived as expected Monday morning and the public pool still is on schedule to reopen Wednesday.

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A young swimmer passes under a waterfall at Veterans Memorial Park Pool on Tuesday, June 19.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

The public pool has been closed since July 1 after experiencing what Ann Arbor city officials at the time referred to as a “catastrophic” mechanical failure of the main pool pump.

Three days before the Fourth of July, and during a week when temperatures soared to record-setting levels, the timing of the pool’s closing could have been catastrophic as well, but was handled about as well as anyone could have hoped, said Dennis Simon, facility supervisor for Vet’s.

Swim practices for the 150-member swim team were held at Skyline High School and residents looking to beat the heat were directed to outdoor pools at Buhr Park or Fuller Park.

Simon said very few people drove up to Vet’s, located at 2150 Jackson Road, expecting it to be open, and those who did were very understanding.

“I think between the (news) stories and City Hall getting all the information out there and getting info up on our website, we didn’t have that many (who didn’t know about the closing),” Simon said. “The people who did show up were really good about it.”

Simon said installation of the new parts will begin either late Monday or early Tuesday and that regular pool hours should resume Wednesday morning.

Even with power outages sweeping across the city, record high temperatures and Vet’s being closed, Fuller Park Pool never reached its 1,250-person capacity.

“We came pretty close to capacity, but never turned anybody away,” said Dan McGuire, facility manager at Fuller Park Pool. “We can spread people out pretty well.”

Officials from Buhr Park Pool were not available for comment.

Contact Pete Cunningham at petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.

Comments

chapmaja

Mon, Jul 9, 2012 : 5:42 p.m.

I wonder how much this little mechanical problem cost the city. I'm sure the parts that failed are expensive, but the lost revenue is likely even higher. Fuller's capacity is legally 1250, but I went by there and it was about as full as it can be comfortably last week. I don't think you can really squeeze that many people in and have them be comfortable. How many people went by Fuller and decided it was too busy and went to a non-city pool. How many knew that Vet's was closed and decided not to go to a pool. How much lost revenue was there from this pool being closed. Having worked at an outdoor pool before I know how complicated it can be. Things do break and they cost money to repair. Unfortunately this broke at the worst possible time and likely cost the City of Ann Arbor a very large sum of money both in repairs and in lost revenue that would have come into the facility.

redwingshero

Mon, Jul 9, 2012 : 6:08 p.m.

Well, how much is it for a daily pass?

redwingshero

Mon, Jul 9, 2012 : 4:37 p.m.

So as Spackler once said, the Babyruth is still good?