Kempsville pool gets a makeover

VIRGINIA BEACH -- Swimmers who spend their time at the Kempsville Recreation Center are temporarily swimming elsewhere while the pool undergoes renovations.

The pool was closed Sept. 7 and will remain closed until late spring. Members can go to one of the city’s five other recreation center pools : Bow Creek, Great Neck, Princess Anne, Seatack or Bayside (next week – see info box).

Kempsville’s Stingray Swim Team has been practicing at Bayside. Additional swimming lessons are being offered at Bayside and Bow Creek, and Bow Creek is opening early to accommodate patrons.

When the pool at Kempsville Recreation Center reopens, it will be a fully upgraded facility compared to the well-worn one built when the center opened in 1977. Teri Dalone, aquatics and therapeutic coordinator for Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation, oversees the staffing and operation of the six indoor swimming pools and the therapeutic recreation unit.

Dalone said the four components to the overhaul, which will cost about $650,000 and is funded by the capital improvement program, are: 

* Installation of a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system ; 

* Installation of energy efficient windows; 

* Replacement of the pool’s original holding tank and fiberglass shell, along with railings on the pool deck and balcony area; 

* Replacement of the pump room mechanical system.

After 80 days of demolition, work begins on the upgrades, which include a plaster finish, ceramic tiles on the lap lane markers and wall targets. In the pool building, workers will install bronze-tinted windows (on the top) and frosted windows (on the bottom).

“We decided to roll it into one project instead of opening and closing. There will be a significant increase in efficiency, and it will have an aesthetically new look,” Dalone said. “The new windows are more energy efficient and will help keep the sun out.”

The spectator area will have a 6-foot partition glass wall installed to help with conditioning the air and for safety reasons, but people will still get to watch the swimming down below, Dalone said. “When we’re all done, we’ll get the pool filled back up and invite people back.”

Ray Smith of Birnam Woods is one of those faithful pool patrons eager for it to reopen. He has frequented the Kempsville center for the past 15 years and relies on the pool as his No. 1 workout spot. He understands why it’s closed.

“They needed to get some work done,” Smith, 48, said, recalling the pool’s dedication more than three decades ago. Now he’s making the extra drive to the other centers for his swim routines, “but I’ll be back to Kempsville.”