Pool closed in low-income part of Turlock in 2019. Much-debated rebuild is about to start
Columbia Pool finally will be rebuilt under a contract approved by the Turlock City Council.
The pool could be ready by May 1, 2024, about four and a half years after closing due to its poor condition. It is at Columbia Park in west Turlock.
The council voted 5-0 on Tuesday, Sept. 12, for a $5.77 million contract with Bobo Construction Inc. of Elk Grove.
The total cost is $9.07 million. That takes in engineering, demolition of the old pool and purchase of prebuilt structures for a snack bar, office and restrooms.
Turlock is covering part of the cost with $5.07 million in fees charged on cannabis businesses. An additional $3.81 million was left over from federal money that helped the city through COVID-19. The Turlock Irrigation District kicked in a $198,264 grant, to discourage swimming in its canals.
The closure has not affected the splash pads next to the pool, where children have continued to play.
Pool opened to swimmers 66 years ago
The council vote followed complaints from a few audience members about the project’s rising cost and slow progress.
“The misses, the mistakes, the delays are unconscionable,” said former councilwoman Mary Jackson, now a school board member in Turlock.
The pool was built in 1957 and had only minor repairs from 1990 on, said a 2020 report from Aquatic Design Group, based near San Diego.
The city shuttered the pool at the end of summer 2019 due to 18 issues cited by the Stanislaus County Department of Environmental Resources. The plaster, tile and deck were in bad shape. So were the pumps, filters, chemical system and restrooms. Access for disabled people was lacking, too.
Smaller repair job rejected
The council voted in February 2021 for $1.8 million worth of repairs, well short of a complete rebuild, estimated then at $6.3 million. Members later switched to the larger project when the county said the pool must be brought fully up to code.
As the city gathered the funding, 2022 brought the highest inflation in four decades. On the positive side, Turlock’s coffers grew with the advent of legal cannabis and the pandemic relief.
“I wish there didn’t have to be three summers where we didn’t have a pool,” Councilwoman Cassandra Abram said before Tuesday’s vote. “And I wish that it didn’t have to cost $9 million.”
Demolition is complete on the pool, which was 100 feet long, 83 feet wide and 1 to 9 feet deep. The project will include landscaping, picnic tables and shade structures.
