Gemini Center pool opens to members
By Kevin Kelley
Fairview Park
Published Jan. 9, 2008

The Gemini Center’s competition pool is now filled with 206,776 gallons of water. And members have begun enjoying every drop.

“We’re excited,” said recreation center member Leslie Leube, who was using the pool Friday afternoon with her three children, Faith, Miles and Ethan. “We’ve been waiting a long time. The kids love it.”

Leube said she and her family had just signed up for a membership hours earlier.

About 350 persons used the pool on Thursday, its first day of operation, recreation department officials said.

The center, which opened in January, now has over 4,700 memberships, said Recreation Department Director Tim Pinchek. But he expects that number to jump with the opening of the pool.

The pool was originally supposed to open with the rest of the $19-million recreation center in January. However, the original pool contractor — Michigan-based Camp Services — fell far behind schedule and was fired by the city.

Waiting for the bonding company to get the project back on track took several weeks, city officials said. Then on March 5, Capri Pools LLC, a St. Louis-based company, took over the project.

Capri Pools did a very nice job completing the project, Pinchek said.

“These guys really knew what they were doing,” he said of the construction company.

Pinchek said that from a staffing viewpoint, having the pool open later was beneficial to his department because his employees were able to focus on other parts of the facility, such as the gymnasium, basketball courts, aerobics rooms, fitness/cardio area and running track. But he still wishes the pool hadn’t been delayed.

“If I could do it over again, I still would have had it all open at once,” Pinchek told West Life.

Still to open is the center’s leisure pool, which includes three lap lanes, a water slide, a hot tub and outdoor splash area. Filled with 131,617 gallons of water, the leisure pool should open by the end of this week if health inspections by state and county officials go smoothly, Pinchek said.

Inspection of the six-lane competition pool was done July 28, said Kim O’Farrell, deputy director of the city’s recreation department.

“Everything was perfect,” said O’Farrell, who is responsible for the city’s aquatics programs.

The following day, the Gemini Center’s 27 lifeguards attended training sessions conducted by O’Farrell.

“The majority of the lifeguards are from Fairview Park,” she said. “They’re on the (high school’s) swim team.”

All Gemini Center lifeguards, who carry waterproof walkie-talkies while on duty, are certified by the American Red Cross, O’Farrell said.

None of her life guards quit because of the repeated delays in opening the pool, O’Farrell said. As is customary among lifeguards, many work at other public pools as well.

“My staff is so excited that the pool is open,” O’Farrell said.

Last Wednesday, the center’s aquatics staff went through final preparations for opening the competition pool, including a check of its filtration system.

“You can’t just rush this,” O’Farrell said of opening a public pool. “There’s a lot of safety involved.”

O’Farrell’s office, located right between the competition and leisure pools, has clear views of both areas. Its computer can control the pools’ water temperature, chlorine levels and ph levels.

“This office was designed with a lot of thought,” O’Farrell said.

Through access to a secure Web site, O’Farrell can also control the pools from her home computer.

The trend O’Farrell has noticed during the competition pool’s first two days is the same trend she noticed during her five years working at the Brook Park Recreation Department’s pool: Adults tend to use the pool for swimming laps in the morning, and children and teens tend to come to play and dive in the afternoon.

The competition pool is completely ready for the fall high school season, when it will be used by the Fairview High School swim team and synchronized swim team for practices and competitions. Next summer, the rec center will form a summer swim team that will participate in competitions, O’Farrell said. And teen dances, now held in one of the Gemini Center’s community rooms, will take place next year in the splash area just outside the leisure pool, she added.

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 nonmember residents and $5 for nonresidents.