PORT TOWNSEND — The municipal pool will re-open without fanfare at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday now that a failed valve, which delayed a grand reopening originally planned March 15, has been replaced.
“I’m excited this is finally happening,” said Anji Scalf, manager of the city’s only public pool.
“We are going for a ‘soft opening’ because we don’t want to have a repeat of last time.”
A crepe-paper ribbon-cutting, tours and other activities had to be canceled one day before they were scheduled because a backwash valve necessary for water purification was found to have failed.
March’s grand reopening was to celebrate the $170,000 in renovations that the 50-year-old pool at 19189 Blaine St. has undergone over the past several months after being closed in November for the upgrade.
The faulty valve discovered on the eve of the reopening will add another estimated $1,500 to $2,000 to the final bill, said City Manager David Timmons. The new valve, along with the replacement of 16 feet of pipe, has been installed.
The new backflow system is manual, replacing an automatic system that failed, and requires the pool operator to open and close the valve rather than just flip a switch.
But the manual system doesn’t take a significant amount of effort or require any extra time, Scalf said.
A grand opening ceremony is still planned, she said, but will be scheduled after the pool has been operating for a while.
Several of the old parts taken from the pool will be on display so people can see what was replaced.
These include filters, meters and worn metal pipes that disintegrate when they are handled.
Repairs that have been completed include installation of a new liner, replacement of the air-handling system and new lighting.
Timmons said these repairs are only part of what needs to be upgraded at the aging pool, but since the city doesn’t have the money available to fix all the old components ,repairs tend to be done when something breaks.
Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
