Is Monticello pool out with a bang?

The Monticello swimming pool was closed just one day before the end of summer vacation on August 13 when an aging circulating pump finally called it quits. As a result, the pool was closed a day earlier than expected and may not open again.

The circulating pump is just the beginning of the challenges faced at the swimming pool, which was built in the mid-1950s. The pool will lose its license to operate at the beginning of 2009, due to the fact that it has just one drain in the bottom instead of the requisite two. The pool also needs extensive work to both the overhead and in-pool lighting systems.

The Monticello City Recreation Committee was scheduled to make a recommendation for the pool on August 19, after the press deadline.

Monticello City Manager Myron Lee explains that the city could continue to operate the pool, but that it is becoming increasingly expensive to maintain the aging facility.

“At the beginning of the year, (City Recreation Director) Eddie Allred told me that it would be a miracle if the circulating pumps made it another season,” said Lee. “Eddie poked his head in the office on Wednesday and said, ‘We were four hours short of a miracle.’”

Lee estimates that a new pump would cost approximately $5,500. An emergency system that would allow the city to meet the new regulations would cost up to an additional $3,000. The aging facility would need extensive work on the lighting systems.

City officials estimate that it would cost an additional $15,000 to keep the facility open an additional year.

Community members have been busy pursuing the construction of a new swimming pool in Monticello. The San Juan County Commission recently committed $50,000 to the effort, providing funding for a swimming pool replacement feasibility study.