Targeted opening for Sooner Pool is next week
A contractor has been located to repair a water leak at the City-owned Sooner Pool, and Public Works officials hope to have the pool open to the public by next weekend.
“We have located a contractor who can repair the leak, and we are hoping to have the pool open to the public next week or weekend,” Public Works Director Keith Henry said today.
The City had planned to open both Sooner Pool, located at 420 S.E. Madison Blvd., and Frontier Pool, located at 312 S.W. Virginia Ave., on May 25.
However, as Public Works staff worked to ready the pools for opening, a water leak was discovered at Sooner Pool. While Frontier Pool is still set to open on May 25, the opening of Sooner Pool was delayed pending repair.
“The contractor will move on this as quickly as possible,” Henry said. “Unfortunately, we will not be able to open Sooner Pool this weekend as planned, but Frontier will open on May 25 and we will do everything possible to open Sooner on or before June 1.”
The splash pad at Sooner Pool is open now, along with the splash pad in Johnstone Park, located at 100 N. Cherokee Ave.
“We do have the splash pad at Sooner Pool open, which is possible because access to the pool is not required to access the splash pad,” Henry said. “The slides, which several people have asked about, can only be accessed if the pool is open, so we will not be able to open the slides to the public until the pool is ready to open.”
Henry said Public Works crews began working to ready the pool for opening some time ago in an effort to ensure there were no problems after the pool was not opened last year due to drought conditions in the area. It was then that problems with some guttering and cement were discovered, he said.
“We started as early as we could to begin the opening process to reduce the likelihood of a delay, but we ran into some problems and have been working to complete those repairs in hopes of opening on Memorial Day weekend,” Henry said. “It was after those repairs were complete and we added water to the pool that the water leak was discovered.”
Frontier and Sooner swimming pools are owned and maintained by the City of Bartlesville but are managed and operated by the Richard Kane YMCA. For information about pool programs or operations, please contact the YMCA.