PORT ANGELES — William Shore Memorial Pool is fast becoming a shell of its former self.
But that’s a good thing, pool Executive Director Steve Burke said Friday.
The 51-year-old pool, which was on the verge of possible extinction in 2009 when it came under the umbrella of a voter-approved tax district, closed for four weeks starting May 24 until June 24 while a three-year, approximately $2 million energy-efficient upgrade project is completed.
“Essentially, except for the shell for the pool, everything related to the pool will be new,” Burke said.
Even eye-burning chlorine is being discarded in favor of a purified form of sodium chloride that will act as a disinfectant.
It won’t taste like salt, Burke said.
What it will do is course through new piping that is equipped with ultraviolet lighting that will kill bacteria and viruses, Burke said.
“This kills on contact those items that are problem illnesses in water recreation facilities, certain things that are resistant to chlorine.”
Air-handling unit
On Friday, the pool’s main air-handling unit — a 5-ton box-like structure — was set in place.
“Essentially, anything that handles energy, we’ve replaced in our building,” Burke said.
The new air unit is twice as big as the unit that was replaced in terms of size and volume of air it handles, Burke said.
The unit costs between $270,000 and $300,000 but will recover enough heat to effectively heat the pool for free.
“It will be heated by the recovered heat in the building,” Burke said.
The pool’s heat bill will be cut in half, to about $5,000 a month, meaning the new unit will be paid for in about six to eight years, Burke said.
“We won’t use a boiler to heat the pool anymore,” he said.
In addition, two rusted roll-up doors will be taken out, with one replaced and the other making way for a new, insulated window.
The facility expects to see a 50 percent drop in energy consumption once the renovations are complete, Burke has said.
One year was spent planning the upgrades and the following two implementing them.
The cost of last year’s physical upgrades was about $600,000, while this year’s renovations will be about $1.4 million.
The new air-handling and mechanical room equipment was financed by a $650,000 general obligation bond borrowed at 3.25 percent interest that Clallam County commissioners approved in April.
It will be paid back with existing levy funds collected at 15 cents per $1,000 of property valuation and revenue from pool memberships, lessons and exercise programs.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
