News Not All Bad at Cheshire Community Pool

This story was posted by Jason Vallee. It was written and reported by Patch Editor Kathleen Ramunni.

There's good news when it comes to the fallen bubble at the Cheshire Community Pool.

After work was completed to remove the remains of the bubble, the damage below was not as bad as anticipated, according to Sheila Adams, the town's pool manager and aquatics director.

"Things are not as bad as the last time the bubble came down," she said, referring to the collapse during the winter of 2011. "There's pretty much minor repairs that are needed such as deck work and concrete that is cracked and two overhang roofs."

This year the bubble collapsed during the blizzard in February that dumped 40" of snow in the area. Town officials including Adams tried during the storm to keep it up by regulating the pressure inside but the snowfall was too much and the bubble came down from the weight of the snow that fell over a two-day period.

"There were a few pieces of equipment and moderate things lost, but nothing like what we lost last time," Adams said.

Town officials did the final walk-through of the pool area with the insurance adjusters last week and will now get prices for the needed repairs, Adams said. After that, the information will be submitted to the Town Council, which has the final say as to what happens next.

Both this time and last time, after the bubble collapsed many town residents voiced opinions that a permanent structure should replace it so to avoid repeats of the same situation.

But that, Adams said, is up to the council, which has plans on forming a committee to look in to the situation and make recommendations.

While the pool will open in time for the summer season, that's not likely to hold true for the fall and winter seasons.

"At this point we don't know when work will start," Adams said. "The council hasn't gotten the committee together so I don't think anything will happen before the fall, but it won't affect summer."

"From my understanding, they want to get the community together and investigate all options and then decide what the fate of the pool will be," she said.

So far people she has talked to feel bad that the pool isn't open but
understand why, she said.

"They're upset that they can't use the facility but they know it's out of our hands — we couldn't stop 40" of snow from coming down," she said. "The big concern is the future of the pool."

The best thing residents can do is contact their council person and let them know how they're feeling, Adams said.

"A lot of people would like to see a permanent structure up," she said. "The biggest thing is they want to see the pool stay open year round."

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