From The Daily Graphic Feb 25 2011

The PCU Centre pool is still closed for the time being, but is expected to reopen on schedule for March 14.

Portage Mayor Earl Porter, who is the vice chairman with the Portage Regional Recreation Authority (PRRA) board, confirmed the Shindleman Aquatic Centre pool repairs are going smoothly and he is looking forward to the pool being open again.

“I’ll feel a lot better when there is water in it and there are kids swimming,” he said. “I am happy they are all gung ho to get it fixed, everyone.”

Porter also confirmed the foundation of the pool is in good order and said there is no truth to any rumour the foundation of the pool may be cracked.

Last week some cement trucks were at the PCU Centre as workers were busy putting grout under the pad of the pool, around the main drain boxes, which are located at the bottom of the pool at the deep end side.

Dave Green, facility operations manager with PRRA, also confirmed the pool repairs are progressing as planned.

While it was only one drain that had cracked and needed repairs, when crews were fixing the problem they are also put on some grouting as a way to further reinforce and protect all the main drain boxes.

“This is just extra reinforcement,” Green said of the grouting work.

The treated water from the pool that was removed at the time of the repair work was diverted to the city’s sewer system.

The ground water that was lowered was instead directed to the lake.

“They pump the ground water to get the level down, so they can get underneath that pool. That water is just pumped out onto the lake ,” said Porter.

The construction of the pool is such that there is a concrete pad at the bottom of the pool. On top of that is the pool liner. And there is ground water under the pad, or the concrete bottom of the pool.

The ground water needed to be pumped down so the workers were able to put in the grout in doing their work.

“Once the grout is in, then the pressure goes back into the pool,” said Porter,” because of the water going into the pool. That holds the pool down and holds the ground water down.”

He added the water table is high in the area generally now, because of the amount of snowfall experienced this winter causing saturation of the soil.

“It is unusual that it is that high, but that is why the (workers) had to pump it out,” said Porter, who added because the water table is high all over in the region there is more concern with spring flooding this year.

While crews are making the pool repairs, they are also in the process of fixing a small sprinkler in the shallow end of the pool in the children’s play area that hasn’t been working properly.

With regard to the PCU Centre itself, the PRRA is aware of some rust on the rafters of the second arena.

Dave Green said when this arena was being built the steel rafters, running across the inside ceiling, were scratched in the process, so they will need to be fixed.

Porter mentioned the work will be done in July. He confirmed this is under warranty also.

It will involve putting on a rust-proof paint over the rafters.

“We spoke to the people in charge and they are going to have somebody come out, when the ice is out of the rink, to fix it,” said Porter. “If they are going to be painting in there, they don’t want to drop stuff on the ice. So they have to leave it until the ice is out of there, which will be in July some time.”

As well, Porter said all of the PCU Centre work is all under warranty.

The PRRA has made a complete list of any other small deficiencies it has noticed with the PCU Centre project since it opened.

“They are making arrangements to have those things remedied,” Porter said. “It’s mostly minor stuff.”

Porter mentioned the pool was under a one-year warranty and any work that went into repairing it, including hiring any outside companies, is completely covered. As well, Porter said when the repairs are complete, the pool will be protected under a new full year warranty from that date forward.

“We’ve asked them to extend the warranty on the pool from when it is fixed and full of water again, (to) give us another year,” said Porter.

From The Daily Graphic Feb 1 2011

It must be hard to be Jennifer Sarna this week.

The head of the Portage Regional Recreational Authority is on the front lines of media enquiries as to why and how the Shindleman Aquatic Centre pool at the PCU Centre has sprung not one, but two leaks. She’s on the front lines despite the fact the leaks are not her fault.

Already a contentious issue, the Daily Graphic knew when we broke the story the reaction on our website would be swift – and overwhelmingly negative.

We were unfortunately right.

And when Ms. Sarna sent out a press release saying the pool needed to be shut down due to an “operational” problem, of course we were going to ask her for the real story behind the vague headline, which she provided. The pool had sprung a second, more serious leak.

Here’s the real concern.

The problem isn’t the leaks. This is a construction issue that is currently being taken care of, as Ms. Sarna and City Manager Dale Lyle, has told us. The leaks are being looked at by the construction company, the cost of the repairs is under warranty and the bill to taxpayers will be minimal.

The real problem is that council knew about it and did their best to not tell anyone.

The City knew about the leak weeks before it trickled down to our ears- and it was serious enough that the pool would need to be shut down eventually.

We understand the fact they didn’t want anyone to worry or panic. But all the current elected councillors, and the mayor, ran on a platform of transparency and accountability.

This is a poor first showing. The PCU Centre is still a controversial issue, and avoiding the problem – especially when they were going to have to tell us eventually – just makes it more so.