Delays push back opening of Cravens Pool

James Mayse, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.
·2 min read

Cravens Pool won’t open until sometime later this summer due to delays with construction and obtaining permits.

City Parks and Recreation director Amanda Rogers said the plan is to open the pool this season, although an opening date was not available Monday.

Parks officials are looking into keeping the pool open later than usual into the August, so people have time to use the pool Rogers said.

Combest Pool will open next weekend, but city officials announced Friday Cravens wouldn’t open as scheduled. Cravens Pool has been closed since after the 2019 season. The pool couldn’t be reopened until issues were corrected.

City commissioners approved plan to fix and redesign the pool, adding water features such as a zero-depth entrance, a children’s water slide and water soaker and activity areas for young children.

The cost of the project is $1.985 million.

Rogers said the electrical engineer on the project had to submit additional drawings in order to get the necessary permit. That delayed the project more than a month, Rogers said.

Manufacture and delivery of the stainless steel pool walls took longer than expected.

“It was about eight weeks longer than anticipated,” Rogers said Monday.

Rain and storms also blocked some work days, Rogers said.

The contractor W Principles LLC, is “making efforts to push the project quicker,” Rogers said. The goal, Rogers said, is for the contractor to not lose more time on the project.

Rogers said she wasn’t comfortable giving out a date for when the pool could open.

The contractor is looking at having crews work longer days, and at having subcontractors on site doing work on days when other crews are also working, Rogers said.

“We are trying to make sure we get open this season, (and) potentially extending the season into late summer,” Rogers said. Parks officials are looking at keeping lifeguards available to work after pool season ends, which is right around the time students go back to school.

Rogers said officials want to Cravens Pool to “stay open a little longer” after Combest Pool closes.

“That is our intent for sure, to work with our lifeguards ... to make sure we can keep it operational” longer into the year, Rogers said.

City officials are also looking at penalizing the contractor for not meeting construction deadlines in the contract.

“We have had discussions about the electrical issue and who, in theory, is responsible for that,” Rogers said. The contractor will “have some damage applied to them for each day moving forward,” Rogers said.

The project has a lot of facets, including installing electrical, plumbing, and obtaining permits, Rogers said.

“We are doing everything we can to get the process going smoothly,” Rogers said.