Who’s down for a New Year’s dip in the Enumclaw pool?

That’s right — after several months of delays, the Enumclaw pool is finally looking to re-open on Jan. 7

The pool shut down last March due to the coronavirus pandemic, but when King County began relaxing COVID-19 gathering rules in June, the pool opted to stay closed in order to get some repairs and new amenities in place. These include visible improvements like a new climbing wall and a new diving board, but also replacing the pool deck and replacing some electrical systems.

The original plan was to open the pool again in September, but construction ran into some issues.

“We found cracks in the pool that had to be repaired… corrosion in some of the drains, some of the plumbing was clogged, we had to deal with that,” said the city of Enumclaw’s Park Director Michelle Larson. “There were a lot of things we couldn’t see until we got into it. But I would say, other than that type of stuff… it’s gone as smooth as it could have.”

The re-opening date was then moved to early November, and then back again to January 2021 as additional repairs needed to be tackled.

It appears now that construction is complete — but that leaves preparing the pool for the general public, which includes filling the pool with water and allowing the plaster in the new pool lining to cure. This process takes about two weeks, Larson said.

“Once the plaster cures, we have to wait a few more days to heat the pool up to acceptable levels for people to get in,” she added. Then staff training begins: “We have to get them up-to-date on their first aid, CPR, and their lifeguarding training, and we can’t do that without water in the pool.”

That leaves a soft-opening date of Jan. 7, “pending everything goes smoothly,” Larson said, with full programming starting Monday, Jan. 11.

Of course, with the pandemic still ongoing, capacity at the pool is limited, even for activities that are normally OK for drop-ins like lap swim and water walking.

“People are going to want to call and make a reservation,” Larson said. “That’s going to save them the time of driving to the pool and us saying, ‘We’re sorry, we’re at capacity.’”

For a full schedule of programs and activities, head to https://cityofenumclaw.net/235/Programs.

PASSHOLDERS GET EXTENSION

One other thing Larson wanted to make sure folks knew was that anyone who bought a pool pass for the time the pool was closed will get an extension.

Because the pool closed in March, that means current pass holders will have their passes extended almost 10-and-a-half months.

For more information, call the pool at 360-825-1188.

RATE INCREASES APPROVED BY COUNCIL

On Dec. 14, the Enumclaw city council approved the final planned 3-year hike in pool use fees.

The fee increases were recommended by a citizen advisory committee in 2019 in order to boost revenues at the pool. The first rate hike was 14 percent; the other two were 7 percent increases.

Here are a few examples of what the increases bring for city residents. Those living outside the city limits pay a bit more because their property taxes do not help support the pool operation:

– Public swim and lap swim rates for youths, seniors, or the disabled have increased to $5.25, and for adults, $6.75.

– Individual water exercise classes for youth, seniors, or the disabled have increased to $6.75, or $8 for adults.

– Monthly splash passes for adults have risen to $65.75, and yearly adult passes are now $267.50.

– Monthly exercise passes for adults are now $80.25, and yearly adult passes have risen to $401.25

– Parent and toddler swim lessons (8 classes) are now $53.50, and are $69.50 for preschoolers and youth.

For more information on pool fees, head to https://cityofenumclaw.net/235/Programs.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE POOL?

Now that repairs and construction are complete, Larson said it’s time for the community to just enjoy the fruits of the parks department’s labors.

“In the meantime, we are awaiting anxiously King County’s new aquatic grant program guidelines,” she added. “Once we get those guidelines, we’d love to reach out for new funding for more renovations and expansion of the pool. That could include the second phase of re-doing the locker rooms and the lobby and adding a party room and family restrooms, and who knows? Shoot high, and maybe we can add on that leisure pool we had in our conceptual design someday.”