Broken piping in the sprinkler system caused the Haines Pool to unexpectedly close for a week.
On Friday, March 10, interim public facilities director Shawn Bell said the borough maintenance crew was called to investigate a leak from a frozen sprinkler line that burst above the pool, causing water to seep behind the walls.
The sprinkler system was drained through a pipe at the back of the school.
Art teacher Linnus Danner said a small amount of water backed up onto the art room floor Friday from the drainage.
Although there was “no real damage,” Bell said, the pool had to remain closed for safety reasons until the fire suppression system could be recharged.
“Fortunately, we caught this leak almost immediately, which kept the excess damage to a minimum,” said pool manager RaeAnn Galasso in an email to patrons.
Bell said the borough hired a firm that will replace the broken section of line in the ceiling panels on the pool deck on Thursday. He did not know how much it would cost.
“One benefit is that the facilities crew took advantage of the downtime,” Bell said.
The facilities crew cleaned and caulked the pool deck during the closure, part of routine maintenance that hadn’t been addressed yet this year.
“Although it may have been better for the pipes to burst next week during spring break, or preferably not at all, we are taking it all in stride,” said Haines Dolphins swim coach Erin Pratt. “We do have a couple of meets coming up, but they’re over a month away, so the timing doesn’t affect us too much. Hopefully we can work hard out of the pool this week and be ready to jump back in whenever the pool opens up again.”
Pratt said the team was able to use the elementary school gym Monday for a dryland workout, and the team had Tuesday off.
Bell said the pool is tentatively set to open again on Friday, March 17.