Workers fill the Gemini Center’s competition pool with water July 15. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Gemini pool to open by end of July
By Kevin Kelley
Fairview Park
Published July 23, 2008

After a delay of nearly seven months, the competition pool at the city’s new recreation center should soon be operational.

“We’ll be swimming by the end of the month,” Mayor Eileen Patton told West Life.

Workers began filling the six-lane pool with water July 15.

However, city officials have not given a specific date on when either the six-lane competition pool or the leisure pool will be open for members.

The city fired the original contractor, Michigan-based Camp Services, in November when it fell far behind schedule on the pools. The rest of the $19-million municipal recreation center opened in January.

Water is now in the long-awaited Gemini Center competition pool. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Capri Pools LLC, a St. Louis-based company, took over the project on March 5. At the time, the city announced a project completion date of July 15.

In an update to the Fairview Park Board of Education on May 20, Gemini Center construction manager Fred Kelly also gave a target date for opening the pools of July 15.

Kelly said the final approval on when the pool will be open to Gemini Center members belongs to the Ohio Board of Health, which has responsibility for inspecting public pools.

The Board of Health is scheduled to inspect the competition pool, and possibly the leisure pool as well, on Monday, Patton said.

The city will hold a luau at the Gemini Center Aug. 13 from 6 to 9 p.m. to celebrate the opening of the pools. Admission to the luau is free for members, two dollars for non-member residents and $5 for non-residents.

On the Web:

• Fairview Park Recreation Department / Gemini Center