The Haines Borough is nearing completion of about $150,000 in improvements to its swimming pool, including work that may address chronic condensation problems at the 41-year-old facility.
Polyseal, a Palmer-based construction company, sprayed seven inches of insulating foam on to ceilings above the pool lobby and locker rooms, replacing fiberglass insulation that trapped moisture and stained and sometimes collapsed sections of dropped ceiling.
The company also sealed off an opening the length of the pool that connected an attic above the pool’s hull to one above the lobby and locker rooms, said borough facilities director Ed Coffland.
The attic over the pool was meant to be cool and dry and the one over the lobby and locker rooms was intended to be warm and damp, so the opening between those two sections was problematic, Coffland said.
“We were mixing cool, dry air with wet, warm air, so of course you’re going to get a lot of condensation. I think this was a big part of the problem the facility had for years,” Coffland said.
Borough crews also found and fixed eight holes in drip pans intended to capture moisture in the lobby ceiling, a chronic trouble spot between the lobby and wheelchair ramp where water has leaked through the ceiling for decades, collapsing sheetrock.
Facilities maintenance technician Ed Bryant, who has worked on pool issues for years, was guarded in his optimism. “We fixed leaks in the pans. That doesn’t mean there won’t be leaks elsewhere. That’s the nature of the beast,” Bryant said.
Bryant was more optimistic about the effects of the spray foam. “There’s no way warm air can get to the cold surface. It’s definitely going to help. It feels different in here already,” Bryant said.
Recent work includes extension of a large reel used to roll up the pool blanket, a cover that borough officials says is essential for keeping down heating costs, particularly during winter months. A recently purchased replacement blanket was too wide for the existing reel, Coffland said.
Work also was recently done to the pool’s water-treatment system, including a filter backwash process.
Chilkat Custom Contractors of Haines next will replace the shower room floor in the men’s locker room. A rubberized mat surface fixed to the deck has bubbled up. The same mat was used around the pool deck and in the women’s locker room.
“It didn’t really stick” in the men’s locker room, Coffland said. “I don’t know quite what happened.” The new shower floor will be created with a poured epoxy.
Coffland said he expected the pool to re-open for public use around July 1-2, as scheduled.