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3 Tampa pools needing safety upgrades remain closed

Tribune file photo (2007)

Interbay Pool may be able to reopen by the end of the summer. Jenkins and Williams Park pools are closed indefinitely.

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By JAMIE PILARCZYK

Published: July 7, 2009

TAMPA - Three city pools remain dry this summer as budget cuts and inclement weather make repairs and federally required upgrades a challenge.

Roy Jenkins Pool on Davis Islands, Interbay Pool in South Tampa and Williams Park Pool in East Tampa all need the drain covers required by an anti-drowning law. Publicly used pools and spas were required to have the drain covers in place by December 2008.

Added to this, the covers slowed filtration of the pool water, which must be done four times a day.

Linda Carlo, spokeswoman for the city's parks and recreation department, said Interbay Pool was closed in May for regular maintenance, which also addressed the drain issues, but is behind schedule due to rain.

"We'll get to it," Carlo said of the repairs to the pool shell and filter tank as well as the installation of the filter covers. "We're working hard."

She said they hope to reopen Interbay Pool before the end of the summer.

The other two pools will be closed indefinitely.

"It's more than just a drain issue at those pools," Carlo said.

Williams, which has erosion under the decking, had a weekly attendance figure of about 266 people. Jenkins Pool, which is 72 years old, had a weekly attendance of about 349 and is part of an overall park study being completed on Davis Islands that includes the construction of a linear trail.

"We're fortunate in Tampa to have 10 pools available for the public," Carlo said. "In these times, it really becomes a priority issue of what gets funded and what doesn't."

Money for the Davis Islands park and Jenkins Pool projects comes from the $1 million Davis Islands Park Improvement Fund, which was donated by Tampa General Hospital in 2005 in return for leasing city land for its expansion.

Laurie Potier-Brown, project manager for the city, said they are conducting a feasibility study of the pool plus the surrounding area, from the Bayshore Little League fields to the Sandra W. Freedman Tennis Complex, to determine how to better use the park space. She said a June 11 public meeting attended by about 50 people determined the desire for more parking as well as community meeting space.

"We're now evaluating the pool and the equipment to see what the cost of upgrading and repair would be," said Potier-Brown, adding the intent is to reopen the pool. "It's really a beautiful place."

By the fall, Potier-Brown said they should have their first of two community meetings to present graphic layouts of the study area along with cost estimates.

As for the linear trail, Potier-Brown said they have a design which includes a start at Davis Boulevard near Channel Drive, heading south along the airport side of the street and crossing at Martinique Avenue, where it would follow the sea wall to the Peter O. Knight Airport offices.

She said they are completing an easement agreement with the airport, and by August the plans should be presented to Tampa City Council and the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority. If all goes as planned, bids for the project could be going out in September.

Reporter Jamie Pilarczyk can be reached at (813) 259-7661.

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