Staff writer
Murky water in the Hillsboro Family Aquatics Center pool should not dismay passersby or those who look forward to swimming there at the end of the month.
“We have to put water in it through the winter to keep the base from floating,” city recreation director Doug Sisk said. “The ground water is so high the whole pool could actually float if we didn’t have that in there.”
Sisk said that cold weather did not hurt the swimming pool as the water did not freeze solid throughout the winter. He also said the current brackish-green color of the water would not be a problem in the near future.
“It doesn’t look the greatest, but it really doesn’t hurt any,” he said. “We will be draining it down next week, cleaning it, and getting ready to fill it for the summer season.”
Pool manager Marci Cain said she was currently in the process of hiring lifeguards, support staff and a food service manager for the facility.
“Life guards must be at least 16 years old and pass certain swimming requirements,” Cain said. “We have a lot of very good swimmers around here but lifeguarding is a whole different ball game.
The Family Aquatics Center will officially open on Memorial Day, May 27. By then, all lifeguards will have completed American Red Cross training in teamwork, rescue, first aid, and surveillance skills.
Cain said she was not worried about the current condition of the water in the city pool.
“It looks gross now,” she said. “But the rec guys will take care of that. Then my crew and I will spend the first week using our remote control vacuum to sweep out all the scum. We will power wash it, sometimes we repaint it, but by opening day it will all be ready.”
Cain said pool care was a lot simpler than it used to be, thanks the use of Chemtrol, a computerized system that measures and adds chemicals to the pool as needed.