Relicensed, refilled, reopened

The pool at the Hanna Recreation Center opened on Aug. 21 and Vivian Gonzales, the director of the center, is happy.

It had been shut for over three months.

"The impact of the pool closing has had drastic impact on how many members were coming to the center," Gonzales said. "The pool is our anchor of our center."

The pool had initially needed a new pump.

"At first we thought we were going to just replace gaskets and fix some plumbing and then once we got into taking it apart, it turned out the pump needed to be replaced," Gonzales said.

Getting the pump replaced meant having to get approval from the recreation board and town council. Gonzales said she had done research on the price when going before the board and council and said that had helped.

It was not only getting the new pump, there was a wait for parts to put in the pump

Gonzales said this process; from draining the pool, going before the powers that be to purchase the new pump, putting the pump in and getting the pool filled and heated took two months.

She was hopeful to have it open after King Coal Days in late July.

What she had not expected was finding out the pool had not been licensed properly for several years.

Gonzales was surprised, but worse, there were several small infractions to get up to code that required the pool to be drained again.

By now, summer was disappearing and Gonzales hoped all would be well once she did what was required by the Carbon County pool inspector.

Gonzales was elated when the pool passed.

"People have been very patient waiting for this," Gonzales said. "Its great to see families coming in to use it."

To celebrate, she is having the pool open to the public at noon to 8 p.m. Sept. 1 for Labor Day weekend.

She is already planning events that center around the pool. On Oct. 13, she is having a trunk or treat where the goal is to have swimming trunks that are decorated for Halloween.

The hours have changed from last year.

Tuesday through Friday the pool opens at 8 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. and then 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. On Saturdays it is open from noon to 7:30 p.m.

"I am just so happy to have it back open," Gonzales said. "The pool really is such a part of the social fabric of our community, whether it is morning water aerobics classes, people doing laps or families just coming in to splash around."

With all the work done over the past few months, Gonzales doesn't seeing the pool shutting down again anytime soon.