LAURIE, Mo. — The water will be warm enough to swim again soon. The doors at the Westlake Aquatic Center will reopen in February and patrons will notice major improvements, including a pool cover and new showers.
The Lake’s only indoor mini-Olympic pool closed on Nov. 28 after the boiler burned up, leaving 70,000 gallons of water with no heat source. Every day since has been one delay after another.
“The board of directors voted to order a new boiler as soon as it became apparent repairs would exceed the cost of replacement,” Westlake Aquatic Center Board Chairman Brent Simpson said. “We went through the leading pool service company in the Lake area to order a new custom-manufactured boiler. We have been doing business with the company for more than a decade. We trusted their assessment of the burned boiler’s condition and the recommendation to purchase a new one.”
However, the Westlake Aquatic Center appears to have fallen victim to bad timing. First, the new boiler was scheduled to arrive by Christmas and would be installed within two days. The deadline came and went. “Then, we found out the manufacturer closed for two weeks during the holidays,” Simpson said. “Then, a part was on backorder and it pushed shipment to late January.”
The pool should be open by the second week in February, provided the boiler arrives in good condition, according to Simpson.
During the down time, the Aquatic Center has received a facelift. A brand new pool cover now promises to cut energy costs in the immediate future. Patrons also will now enjoy four brand new showers in the locker rooms, among a host of other less noticeable but important repairs.
“We decided to do all the work we could that would otherwise require the pool to close to the public, since it was closed for the boiler anyway,” Simpson said. “We’re just trying to make the best of a bad situation.”
Many Westlake Aquatic Center members and local business owners have shown support by donating in record numbers to the “Friends of the Pool” campaign, the largest fundraising activity of the year.
The Laurie-Sunrise Beach Rotary Club continues to provide financial backing and volunteer support.
Central Bank of Lake of the Ozarks has again shown its dedication to civic responsibility by extending financing to the Aquatic Center for the capital improvements.
The Morgan County Senior Tax Board has committed to support the pool through 2014 and grants are currently pending before the Camden County Senior Tax Board and Community Foundation of the Lake.
“I think the pool being closed for the last seven weeks has made people realize how important it really is, especially to the seniors in the community,” Westlake Aquatic Center Operations Manager Carolyn Solomon said. “We have received more than 100 phone calls from members and the public. One man said he was desperate to get back in the water before he could not walk anymore. Other patrons just miss their pool friends.”
The Laurie-Sunrise Beach Rotary Club built the Westlake Aquatic Center in 1999. The mini-Olympic pool offers water aerobics, lap swimming, swimming lessons, CPR, lifeguard training, SCUBA classes, and provides facilities to emergency dive teams, military personnel and first responders. The Westlake Aquatic Center is located at 134 North Fairgrounds Road in Laurie, Mo.
