End of an Era: R.C. Icabone Swimming Pool closes permanently

Jan 03, 2024

Kyle Horne, the executive director of the Cañon City Area Recreation and Park District, right, shows a nine-foot crack in the fiberglass liner of the R.C. Icabone pool to City Councilman Brandon Smith, left, and City Administrator Ryan Stevens, center, on Thursday. (Carie Canterbury/Daily Record)

An up-close look at a nine-foot crack in the fiberglass liner of the R.C. Icabone pool. (Carie Canterbury/Daily Record)

Rebar is exposed on the west end of the pool deck. (Carie Canterbury/Daily Record)

The concrete pad is separating from the pool structure. (Carie Canterbury/Daily Record)

An up-close look at the past repair work on the fiberglass liner of the R.C. Icabone pool. (Carie Canterbury/Daily Record)

Much of the vital equipment in the mechanical room is corroding after many years of use. (Carie Canterbury/Daily Record)

Much of the vital equipment in the mechanical room is corroding after many years of use. (Carie Canterbury/Daily Record)

Some of the vital equipment in the mechanical room, such as this pump, is original to the pool being built in 1967. (Carie Canterbury/Daily Record)

It is the end of an era for the R.C. Icabone Swimming Pool.

After serving generations of children and families for 56 seasons and outliving its life expectancy by about three decades, the Cañon City Area Recreation and Park District Board of Directors unanimously voted to close it for good on Thursday.

The decision, however, was not only reluctant by all but tearful for some.

But it all came down to safety.

"To add to the safety issues, you have the fiberglass, the concrete and the rebar, you have the high-pressure pipes and tanks in the mechanical room, some of those fittings are about ready to go," said Joel Dudley, board vice-president, during a special meeting. "The fittings for these pipes have eight to 10 bolts holding them together, that's how much pressure is in those pipes."

Some of the pipes are rusted.

Crack in fiberglass liner delays opening of Cañon City's swimming pool

"Something in there is going to give, and if anybody is near there, they are going to die or be seriously injured when that goes," he said. "...The stuff in the mechanical room is truly a danger. It's not about keeping water anywhere, it's about somebody not losing their life or their eye or something when that goes."

Board Treasurer Andy Palmasano weighed in on the conversation via speakerphone.

"I am sad that this has to be the way, but I don't know what else to say," he said. "We've seen it, there's nothing else really to debate on. It's clear - it sucks - but it is a clear decision to me, I just hate to make it."

For the last several years, Board President Nick Sartori said they pray when they turn on the switch that everything will work, but they can't do it this year.

The pool has been part of Board Secretary Melissa Smeins' family for the last 16 years. Her daughter learned to swim there and later participated in the Pirhanas swim team.

"We can't just leave it as a closed pool, we have to replace this pool," she said through tears. "It's not about us adults ... it's about the kids that can bike to the pool, it's about the Kids Klub kids that look forward to a summer of playing in the pool, it's about the swim team and all of the great values that they are learning through the sport of swimming and being on a team."

She said the river is not a replacement for a pool, and children need to learn to swim in a pool before ever getting into a river.

"We have to bear this in mind because that is what this pool is about in our community for a lot of kids," she said. "I love that pool."

Cooper Trahern, the board's assistant secretary/treasurer, was one of those kids who grew up swimming in the R.C. Icabone Pool.

"It's sad, it's a really sensitive subject," he said. "But now, as an adult, I wouldn't want my kids swimming in there. Now, our responsibility as the board is to think about the next steps and listen to public input and then come up with the best plan moving forward. Closing it and being done with it is not an option, I don't think, in anyone's mind."

The Cañon City Area Recreation and Park District was formed in 1965 to build and operate a public pool, which opened in 1967 with a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years.

A water-park quality slide was added in 1991 and the concrete liner was sealed with a fiberglass liner in 1998 because the concrete liner was cracking. The high-speed sand filters were replaced around that time, as well.

An engineering company did a site audit in 2018 at which time it was determined that the pool had outlived its useful life. The slide was removed in 2019 for safety reasons and also that year, the mechanical room was evaluated. It was determined that it had possibly three seasons left.

A new audit has been completed this year. The preliminary findings were outlined during Thursday's meeting, but the final report will be made available at the June 13 meeting and replacement options will be presented at the July 11 meeting.

Findings mandate that the liner, pump, sand filters, diving board structures, and all pipes, valves and fittings must be replaced. Also, rebar is exposed on the west end of the pool deck and the concrete pad is separating from the pool structure. The wading pool is not in compliance and permanently is closed, and closure of the main pool is recommended.

The degrading fiberglass liner has numerous cracks and no longer adheres to the concrete sides of the pool and it has been known to cut kids' feet in recent years.

John Zimmerman of Zimmerman's Auto Body offered his time free of charge to repair a nine-foot crack in the fiberglass liner that already has been patched twice.

"What I think is happening is water is getting between this fiberglass liner and the concrete," he said. "As kids push on the pool, it hydraulicly shocks it and it is actually separating."

He said that even if that crack could be repaired, the liner would crack somewhere else. To him, the concrete degrading around the pool deck is more concerning than anything.

"That is sticking up about half an inch away from the concrete apron, that will definitely cut a toe, and fiberglass hurts really bad," he said."That would have to be sealed down and I don't know how you would do it. ... I wouldn't want my grandkids running around there."

Even if the liner was to be repaired, that's not the most pressing issue.

The mechanical room has significant corrosion throughout the systems.

"We said that when we started leaching water we would have to shut down," said Kyle Horne, the executive director of the Cañon City Area Recreation and Park District. "We are there."

The pipes underneath the pool are four-inch lines; they need to be eight inches going into the system and six inches going back out to the pool in order to meet the levels required by codes. The code currently requires six hours to cycle all of the water through the pool, but the pool has been grandfathered in at eight hours, Horne said. The pool currently is closer to nine hours.

"They met code in 1967, they don't meet code now," he said. "We are past the life expectancy of all the equipment."

Other facts presented:

"The reason we have these issues is because we have an old pool," Horne said. "It has nothing to do with maintenance, it has nothing to do with the district being negligent - it has to do with 56 years."

He said past directors, maintenance staff and board members have done an incredible job caring for the pool the last 56 years.

"They all did their job and they did it well, which is why we still have a pool," he said. "Unfortunately, we are at the end of its life. We get to now fall in the category of we have to deal with it and what are we going to do next."

If a ballot issue goes to voters to replace the pool, the earliest that would be is November 2024, which means the earliest a new pool would open would be in 2026.

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