City of Lake Worth press release: Municipal pool closure at the Beach [follow-up]

This complex, long-standing community issue will be addressed at the City Commission on Tuesday, Feb. 21st.

For more information contact Ben Kerr, Lake Worth’s Communications Specialist:

• 561-586-1631
• Email BKerr@lakeworth.org

Please note: The City Staff and City Commission have not yet made a decision regarding these recommendations [see below] and are waiting to do so until after the formal presentation of the information at the commission meeting on February 21st [for Part I of the survey and report use this link; for Part II use this link]. Until this date City Manager, Michael Bornstein, stands by his decision to keep the pool closed for the safety of City Staff and the General Public. The decision to reopen or more permanently close the pool will be made following the Commission meeting.

Lake Worth, Florida — In response to the dilapidation and recurring closures of the Lake Worth Municipal Pool, the City Commission requested a consultation be carried out detailing the options available to the City. An experienced aquatic consultant, Bob McCallister, was hired to undertake the assessment and his recommendations and resume are attached to this email. The full report and recommendations will be presented to the City Commission on February 21st. Below is the executive summary from the report:

“Based upon this completed study, it is the recommendation of the Aquatic Consultant that renovations and improvements to the existing Aquatic Facility at Lake Worth Beach would not be cost effective nor serve the Lake Worth community and visitors to the best interest of the City of Lake Worth.
     It is the professional opinion of the Aquatic Consultant that this Aquatic Facility be closed until the bathhouse and filter room are totally rebuilt due to exposing the public and staff to the present hazardous conditions.
     This report clearly identifies the need to demolish and rebuild the bathhouse and filter room. In addition, there are major repairs and modifications needed to the pool structure and filter system. These items alone will cost approximately $2.8 million and will not substantially increase the aquatic facility’s current use nor will the annual revenue increase.
     Converting the 50-meter pool into a shallow water entry pool with interactive water features and amenities may increase the pool’s attendance at a cost of additional $1.2 million. With the addition of architect/engineering and pool designer fees, a contingency fund of 5% and FF&E budget of $100,000 the total project approaches $4.6 million.
     Further, the Aquatic Consultant recognizes that during any renovation project there may be some unforeseen problems during the renovation and/or future problems with what remains regarding the old 50-meter pool.
     It is the Aquatic Consultant’s professional opinion that it would be a better decision for the City to totally rebuild a new family water park with lap lanes on the same footprint location. Use the same footprint with all the water features in this report and possibly add more features, such as a lazy river. This could be done for $4.5–$5 million and would be a better use of the funding, than to try to save one end of the existing 50-meter pool. This new aquatic facility will have the potential to be self-supporting, as the revenue generated would cover the annual operational expenses.
     Finally, it should be noted that a water park facility of this nature and at this location would require at least 300 additional parking spaces. This may require a new parking deck adjacent to the water park. This is an additional component to this report and would require additional funding above the $4.5 - $5.0 to the new water park concept for parking deck design and construction cost.”