Crack in the Ground
Maria Thi Mai
A strong advocate of community services, Commissioner Adams supports Commissioner Leonard's pursuit of the Buckman Pool repair costs and who can finance fix.
Portland Public School cost estimates are around $100,000. Other estimates may be gathered which will begin a discussion on who will pay for fix. The pool is owned by the School District with the Portland Parks responsible for maintenance.
Give us your thoughts on how the decision as to who pays should be made.
Posted by Maria Thi Mai on June 14, 2005
(4) Comments | Permalink | TrackBack (1)
Filed Under Livability & Environment, Southeast Portland (inner)
Comments by site visitors
I agree that it should be the responsibility of Portland Parks & Rec to repair the Buckman pool! To me, that is part of the levy we approved for our neighborhood. Jim B.
Posted by: Jim Bryan | Jun 14, 2005 8:34:02 PM
Buckman Pool should be repaired, maintained and operated by Portland Parks and Rec. I think that is where the expertise is.
The inner SE area needs the pool. We have no other rec. facility.
Posted by: Shelley Curtis | Jun 14, 2005 9:54:47 PM
Fixing the pool or is the fix already in?
I am concerned that the simple and inexpensive
solution of regular regrouting is being under considered.
My prejudice that this is the best approach is based on the following.
Prior of ~1998 the pool had been regrouted every year or two.
Since this time it has never been regrouted.
A pool consultant suggested to me that grouting is a 2-5 year fix.
Removal of the tile shows cracks along the walls and floor of the pool. These cracks have been in the pool for years and years, if not generations. In fact, one can see where the tile had been regrouted along the crack lines.
Based on this one can assume that the pool engineers prior of 1998 knew of
these cracks and kept the pool open and full of happy swimmers
by regular regrouting.
Additional evidence that the tile and grout solution does indeed hold water
is provided by the PPS 'let the pool leak to find its level' experiment of last April/May.
As you may recall the water leaked quickly when the pool was full but stopped
leaking about 8 inches from the top. Please see http://buckmanu.org/bu.py/Entropy/Pool/photos
for photos I took May 16th after the pool found its level.
Seen in these photos are cracks in the grout along the gutters
in the upper part of the pool. On the other hand, most of the bad cracks in the shell (for photos see Commissioner Leonard's web site
http://www.portlandonline.com/leonard/index.cfm?c=38642)
are much lower than 8 inches from the top.
The simplest explanation of why the leak stopped 8 inches from the top is
1) that the water was leaking out cracks in the grout near the gutters and
2) that the tile and grout continued to be an impermeable barrier over the many large
and small crack in the shell.
Let's stop dismantling the pool, commit to
regular maintenance and start swimming again.
Posted by: Joe Meyer | Jun 16, 2005 1:14:57 PM
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The pool is an important resource for Parks in inner SE Portland until a new community center is built.
The passage of the Levy was to insure the operation of Buckman Pool. This includes regular maintenance. Evidently, the pool has not been maintained, so now it needs to be fixed. The city should find the funds to repair Buckman Pool at a minimum level that will ensure its operation for the next 5-7 years.
Levy funds were used toward a 2.8 million upgrade and repair of Wilson Pool, which is an outdoor pool. I do not feel that $100,000 at a minimum is an unreasonable expenditure for a community pool which can be used year-round.
Posted by: christine yun | Jun 14, 2005 8:19:19 PM