Parks Staff Opens Treadwell Park Pool To Beat The Heat

By John Voket

With heat indexes exceeding 100 degrees earlier this week, Newtown Parks and Recreation personnel helped dozens of local families get some respite by opening the Treadwell Park pool complex two weeks ahead of schedule. Early Tuesday afternoon, lifeguards baked on their perches as children and parents alike frolicked in both the children’s area and the main pool at the Sandy Hook complex.

According to Parks and Recreation Director Barbara Kasbarian, the sudden tropical spike in both temperature and humidity led her to call certified summer staff in two weeks early.

“We didn’t have much choice,” she said. “After that heat last week we needed to give people a place to go to get some relief.”

Ms Kasbarian said the Dickenson Park swimming area, an asphalt-lined pond with an easy zero-entry configuration, would open on schedule June 25. Depending on the outcome of an ongoing environmental study, however, this summer may mark the end of an era for those who enjoy the more pondlike swimming experience that Dickenson affords.

She said the integrity of the poured asphalt lining the bottom of the swimming area has deteriorated to the point where a significant renovation may be recommended. But if environmental guidelines enacted since the lining was originally poured in the mid-1970s prevent the work from being carried out as needed, the town may have to consider other options for the facility.

“I hope we can save it,” Ms Kasbarian said. “I’m partial to the Dickenson pool.”

On Tuesday, Ms Kasbarian reviewed a report with The Bee that she was scheduled to present to the Parks and Recreation Commission later that evening. A consulting service was about 30 percent complete with its study of the pool complex, having gathered plans and photographs of the area in recent weeks.

“Next week, once we get the water level all the way up, the consultants will complete the next phase of their study collecting water samples,” Ms Kasbarian said.

She said once all the information is gathered and spelled out in a final report, the Parks Department will know whether the existing facility can be saved. The report will also detail current Department of Environmental Protection standards for such an undertaking.

“The consultants are going to tell us how far we may have to go to conform with DEP guidelines,” she said. “At that point, if we can’t save the existing pool by resurfacing, the report will give us alternatives that we may apply to the location.”

In previous reports, parks officials have discussed the sensitivity of a flood plain and natural brook that both feeds the pool and runs in proximity to the pool’s boundaries.

“If it’s not feasible to renovate, our only choice could be to put a new filtered pool or pool complex there, or in an adjacent location,” Ms Kasbarian said. “If we can’t save the surface, we may have to look at a splash park or splash pool as a possible replacement.”

She said attempts to repaint the 30-year-old asphalt pool bottom have become increasingly difficult.

“The paint just won’t adhere anymore, and we can’t just overlay the existing bottom with new asphalt. It would bubble right up,” she said.

Ms Kasbarian said the appeal of Dickenson Pool is the zero-entry shoreline, which is very conducive to younger swimmers who are just beginning to venture into the water. And many longtime residents enjoy the more pondlike experience over the poured concrete basin at Treadwell Park.

“I really look at Dickenson as more of a pond or a lake,” she said. “But since we chlorinate it, I don’t think you’ll ever find a cleaner natural lake or pond.”

She said parks officials expect the full environmental report from their consultant to be presented by late summer.

Ms Kasbarian also took the opportunity to remind town residents that the artificial field installation at Treadwell Park has begun, so that complex is now off-limits to users until the new surface is completed. She also encouraged parents waiting to sign up for the middle school summer camp to get their registrations in to ensure all interested children get an opportunity to participate in that popular local summer program.