THE Lieutenant King Park swimming pool has once again been closed, disappointing residents, particularly school children who were looking forward to kicking off their school holidays in the water. The pool’s closure is the latest in a series of disruptions from ongoing maintenance and chemical supply issues.

Also read:  Chlorine shortage forces swimming pool closure in Wentworth

Jason Johnson, who serves under ward 66 portfolio for sports, arts, culture and recreation, confirmed that there are several reasons why the pool is closed.

“Previous months have seen the pool being closed due to chemical shortages, a change in chemical brand and now the issue of not all the pumps working correctly is also contributing to the closure,” he said.

While efforts had been in the works to fix these issues, a municipal pool chemical shortage has again halted progress. “We found solutions, and we were going well, but a shortage across the municipality of chemicals has set us back again,” he said.

Johnson said the ward 66 councillor, Zoë Solomon, has written to the committee to investigate the matter, pending a meeting with the superintendent this week. He added that there is no clear timeline yet on when the pool would re-open, but it is definite to re-open.

“At this stage, we don’t have an estimate, and we hope that our meeting with officials will bring some positive feedback on the way forward,” he said.

Johnson said the closure of the pool impacts not only ward 66, but also the surrounding wards. “Our pool is an integral part of keeping our youngsters busy and out of trouble.  It is also used by many for training purposes, and we need a clear plan from the department on how they’re going to rectify our situation,” he said.

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