Mountain Recreation postpones Eagle Pool opening due to water leak
The pool will remain closed until it is deemed safe for swimming
Mountain Recreation’s Eagle Pool was scheduled to open earlier this week on Wednesday, June 1. However, a recently discovered water leak led the organization to postpone its opening until staff can test the pool’s mechanical systems and identify the source of unusual water loss.
“Going into its 20th year, the Eagle Pool has seen an increasing number of issues. We’ve been able to keep the pool going while maintaining safe operation,” said Scott Ruff, superintendent of recreation facilities at Mountain Rec, in a recent blog post. “As soon as we became aware, we immediately brought in engineers from the Town of Eagle, consulted with our original pool manufacturer, and shut down our mechanical systems.”
The organization is not sure exactly how much water was lost last week, according to Eddie Campos, Mountain Rec’s marketing and communication’s manager.
“It was just enough to prevent the pool to be remain full, above the gutters and allow for proper water circulation,” he said, adding that once the leak was discovered, Mountain Rec staff shut off the pool’s mechanical systems to “conserve as much water as possible.”
The organization has scheduled a leak detection company and the original pool manufacturer to come and inspect the Eagle Pool, after which it hopes to have more information on repairs needed.
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“We will do everything possible to open the Eagle Pool this summer and to do so swiftly and safely,” he said. “Our main concern currently is to fix the leak, then we will need to ensure proper filtration and circulation of the water that keeps pool water quality safe for swimming. Only then can we open the Eagle Pool.”
While the water leak is the current concern at the pool, maintenance on the Eagle Pool has been a top priority for Mountain Rec. It was specifically named as one of the main projects in its All Access Plan, which voters resoundingly rejected in the May election.
Beyond the leaks, Campos said that the pool is “settling into the hillside due to challenging soils.”
Not only that, but it was named a top priority as a larger pool is needed to “keep up our rapidly growing community,” he added.
“We are yet to determine the extent of repairs needed to open the Eagle Pool this season,” Campos said. “This will be diagnosed in the coming weeks.”
While repairs on the recent leak were not planned for by the organization, Campos said there were ample funds in the Eagle Pool and Ice Rink’s replacement fund to address the water loss.
As it diagnoses the problem at the Eagle Pool, Mountain Rec intends to temporarily divert its staff resources to the Gypsum Rec Center to “maximize pool hours for the community,” Campos said.
However, as Mountain Rec faces challenges of a national lifeguard shortage impacting Eagle County, it will not open the Gypsum Creek Pool this summer.
“We are crossing our fingers that this is an easily accessible and quick fix. We are definitely setting our sights on opening the Eagle Pool this summer unless the issue requires a more involved repair process,” said Sheryl Staten, Eagle facility supervisor at Mountain Recreation, in the Mountain Rec blog. “We will open the pool as quickly as we can ensure the safety of our swimmers.”
