Key Findings

As there is a lot of information which has been discussed during the Master Planning process, the following summary has been put together on the key findings from the Design Committee.  The full details associated with these findings are included in the additional master planning pages below.  This page is intended to summarize the key points for the members who do not want to review all the detail.

Pool Findings

1)      The pool is 52 years of age.

2)      We have had three independent assessments of our pool, and they all agree on the following.

  1. The general life expectancy of a community pool is 30-50 years.
  2. Our pool is in good shape for it’s age.
  3. While none of the assessors would put a specific life on the pool, they all agreed that 5 years is safe, and the pool shell might last as many as 10 years.

3)      While the pool shell is in good condition the adjacent suspended cement deck is in poor condition.

  1. The suspended deck should be reinforced now.
  2. The suspended deck should be replaced within 5 years.  (Generally sooner is better than latter, and the deck should be temporarily reinforced in the interim to be safe.)

NOTE:  The suspended cement deck is above our pool filter room and over a portion of the hill as it falls away towards the ravine.  This is a heavily used sections of deck.

  1. If the suspended deck is replaced before the pool, it will be throw away work as the deck will be removed in it’s entirety when the pool is replaced.

It is a general view of the design committee and the board that planning should be undertaken now to replace the pool within five years and to do it together with the cement deck.

Building, Health and ADA Codes Issues

Our facility is out of code in a number of ways – all of which will have to be addressed when we upgrade our facility and replace the pool.

1)      Our pool itself is out of code in four areas.

  1. Our diving well is not up to code (Montgomery County, Maryland State or USA Diving).  We must expand our diving well when we replace the pool if we wish to continue to dive at our facility.
  2. Our middle and main pools are too close together, and they must be separated by at least 5 feet when we replace the pools.
  3. Our baby pool will require a “zero entry” when we replace our pools.
  4. Our drainage is not up to code and we will have to modified when we replace the pool.

2)      Our bath house is out of health code in a number of areas.

  1. We do not have enough fixtures (Water Closets, & Showers) in either the male or female bathrooms.  This will have to be addressed before we can replace our pool.

3)      We are required to meet ADA standards and we do not meet them in a number of important ways.

  1. Our existing ramp and stairs do not meet ADA standards for access.
  2. Our bathrooms do not meet ADA standards for either access (steps) or fixtures (disabled stalls).
  3. We do not meet ADA standards for entrance to the pool.  We are required to meet this standard by the 2012 swimming season, and we will have to add lifts to meet this need.

NOTE:  We will be required to meet health codes for the bath house and ADA codes for the facility when we replace the pool.  As such we do not have the option of replacing the pool before we replace the bath house.

Elsewhere in this section you will find three options for the replacement of the pool and three options for a replacement or renovation of our bath house.  You will also find a page on funding options which cover the costs and financing of all our options.