The roof replacement at the Arnold Recreation Center has been delayed by a week, which means the city also has put off closing the indoor pool by a week.
The pool is now expected to be closed from 5:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. between March 27 and March 31 and again from 5:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. between April 3 and April 7. The pool activities and programs will still take place after 3 p.m.
The city initially expected the roof to be replaced and the indoor pool to be closed this week – from Tuesday through Friday, March 24.
City Administrator Bryan Richison said the roof work was delayed because of the rainy forecast.
Any activities or programs customers already paid for that are affected by the closure will be made up at later dates, Parks and Recreation Director Dave Crutchley.
He said the pool closure at the rec center, 1695 Missouri State Road, is necessary because the roof over the pool has to be completely torn off, and dust and debris could fall into it during the work.
Crutchley said the roof replacement is needed.
“Most of the roof over the pool is not even secured on anymore,” he said. “We have leaks throughout the building; there is actually a new leak in the pool area where it is pulling off from a wall.”
City Council members agreed in December to pay Shay Roofing of Millstadt, Ill., $809,908 to replace the entire rec center roof. Shay submitted the lowest of three bids for the work, Richison said.
He said the roof replacement has been needed at the rec center, which opened in 2005, for a long time.
“It has been put off because we were looking for other ways to do it while avoiding financing it,” he said. “It has reached a point where there are enough problems with the building that we needed to do what it took to get it done.”