Refit postpones opening of the pool in Washtucna

The Washtucna pool is undergoing repairs after a city levy passed last fall to provide funding for its operation.

In 2012 the levy failed to pass by three votes, according to Theresa St. Hilaire who serves on the Washtucna Parks and Recreation District No. 2 board.

“A year without a pool was a rough year,” St. Hilaire said.

She said that without a pool kids had to travel to the Ritzville Water Park, but there were kids who did not have transportation and did not have the opportunity to swim.

This year the Washtucna pool is scheduled to open Fourth of July if repairs go as planned.

“It’ll be close,” said Kirk Nelson, the contractor hired to conduct the repairs. “If not the fourth then the fifth or sixth.”

The cause of this delay is the removal of 29 years of layered sealant and the repair of holes in the side of the pool. When Nelson started the job he did not anticipate it would take this much work to get the pool reopened. He thought there would be a minimal amount of painting, some patching and refilling the pool.

That, however, was not the case.

Nelson, with the help of volunteers from the community and the lifeguards hired by the pool, has been busy scraping off the old sealant and repairing the damage to the pool. It has turned into a project that Nelson has been working at off and on for four months.

Nelson described the first time he stepped into the drained pool.

“My first step I heard crunch, my second step I could feel the bottom shift and watched it bubble up.”

The first step to refinishing the pool was removing the latest sealant attempt; plaster.

Nelson attributes the failing of the plaster to inadequate prep work. The plaster had to be laid directly on top of approximately 20 layers of sealants. This caused the plaster to not set properly, and eventually cracked and failed in about 50 percent of the pool.

“It came off in sheets,” said Nelson.

The rest had to be removed by jackhammers and then shoveled out of the pool for disposal.

“There was a lot of shoveling involved,” said Matthew Hoilman, one of the lifeguards at the pool who has been helping Nelson restore the pool for about three months.

During the removal of 29 years of sealants hidden underneath the plaster, Nelson said they learned the best removal method was to use a sharpened chisel on an electric jackhammer to slowly peel the layers away from the concrete.

“We’ve tried burning it out, we tried scraping with chisels and hammers, we tried corrosive chemicals and grinding, this is the best way,” Nelson said.

Another obstacle Nelson and those working in the pool are facing is the heat. They have been working to try and avoid the hottest parts of the day. Nelson said that when the sun gets overhead, the concrete radiates a lot of heat.

“It was even worse when the whole pool was white,” he added.

Once the old layers of paint are removed, Nelson must patch the areas of the pool where the concrete has been uncovered. One of the holes is almost a foot wide and is so deep the rebar embedded in the concrete is exposed.

Nelson also plans to build stairs into the shallow pool to allow children and the elderly to step into the pool easily.

“It’s one of the deepest kiddie pools I’ve ever seen,” he said.

Once the new sealant is applied, the remaining tasks include repairing leaky pipes and installing a new filter. After the pool’s been filled, it will take about two days to verify everything is working properly and that the pool is safe for swimmers.

“We’re excited,” said St. Hilaire, “and hope the public understands that we want to be responsible for levy money and do it [repairs] properly.”

St. Hilaire said the pool season will be extended due to the late opening, and swim lessons, water aerobics and an adult swim time will be offered.