Yacht Club pool to close for resurfacing, improvements
Residents who enjoy doing water aerobics at the Cape Coral Yacht Club pool will have to make other arrangements for the next several months.
The Yacht Club Community Pool will be closed beginning Monday for a resurfacing project. The project includes resurfacing of the main pool and kiddie pool, tile replacement, restoration of the diving boards and resurfacing and staining of the surrounding concrete deck area. The pool will be closed through the duration of the project, which is expected to take about 90 days to complete.
Barbara Dickinson, Yacht Club supervisor, said the biggest concern regarding the project was the children and where they would go for swim lessons and on those hot days at camp.
“The vast majority of the swim lessons happen in the summer while the children are out of school. That’s the most important thing we do,” Dickinson said. “The camps over the summer rely on the use of the pool. If the project couldn’t start by March 1 and reopen as the kids get out of school, we probably would have delayed the project until fall.”
Dickinson said Sun Splash Family Waterpark will reopen on weekends beginning March 9 and will be open throughout spring break.
For the adults who use the pool in the morning for exercise, the arthritis and fibromyalgia class that was set in the pool will be moved to dry land, while deep water aerobics will be discontinued until the pool reopens, Dickinson said.
The pool was long overdue for resurfacing. The pool is usually resurfaced every 10 years, but last one was done in 2004. The recession caused the project to be postponed.
The project budget is $285,000 and was approved by the Cape Coral City Council last year. Funding for the improvements is a Parks and Recreation Special Revenue Fund. No money from the $60 million GO Bond passed by referendum last year will be used.
Once the funds were confirmed when the budget passed in September, the city had to go through the process of advertising and receiving bids, which are vetted and brought to city council for approval.
The contractors then had to do their legwork, which added to the time required.
“It would have been nice to do this in November, December and January, but it couldn’t happen. If we put it off, the contractor’s price wouldn’t be guaranteed anymore,” Dickinson said. “We would have to start over.”