Bubble "A Total Loss;" Council to Weigh Options

There's no hope in resurrecting the bubble that collapsed during the February blizzard, Aquatics Director Sheila Adams told the Town Council Tuesday night.

"The insurance company has declared the bubble a total loss," she told the council.

Thursday morning demolition crews will be on site to dismantle the collapsed bubble, she said, and after it is removed, the damage to what is underneath it will be assessed.

"At that point they will come back out next week to see the damage under it and then state the process to clean it up," Adams said.

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If the town is going to want to replace the bubble, it has to be ordered by June in order to gt it ready to open as an indoor facility in late September, she said.

"That is something we are going to look at very critically in the coming weeks," Town Council Chairman Tim Slocum said.

"We need to know what the insurance company is talking about as far as a price for replacement," Town Manager Michael Milone said, "and we won't have that for about a month."

For now, all of the employees who worked at the pool have been laid off, Adams said.

"They're all out of work," she said.

During the Feb. 8 storm that dumped as much as 40 inches of snow in the region, about 600 bubble structures came down statewide, Adams said. "We are one of two that were totaled," she said.

The damage wasn't as severe for those that were built differently, she said, including those that were built to be collapsible and were taken down as the storm struck.

To assure that the Cheshire bubble doesn't collapse again, the town could chose to erect such a bubble, Adams said, or it could install a second back-up blower to back up the current back-up blower that keeps the bubble inflated.

There are bubbles all over the world in areas known for brutal winters that withstand storms like the February blizzard, Adams said, so the right one here could also.

"There are alternatives," she said.

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