Large Pool to Open by End of July
By Dan Murphy
An eight-year disaster – the continued closure and inability of Westchester County government to repair and open Sprain Ridge Pool on the Yonkers/Hastings border – will finally end, as County Executive George Latimer and his administration have been able to fix the pool and have all parts of the site, including the largest pool, open for children, campers and families by the end of July.
Latimer told Rising newspapers that while work on the largest pool has now come down to taking the final tests to make sure there is no leaking, he is confident the large pool will be open by the end of July, and that the kiddie pool and another smaller pool will be open for the July 4th weekend.
The troubles at Sprain Ridge Pool, and the frustration of the Westchester taxpayers, has been going on since long before Latimer was elected county executive in 2017.
Every year for the past eight years that the pool has been closed, we have received the following email from Gene Woldman: “My question for you, Mr. Murphy, which you have written before about Sprain Ridge in the past, is: If it was located in Mt. Pleasant, near (former County Executive) Mr. Astorino, would it have been closed for so many years? As a Westchester homeowner and taxpayer, where is the accountability for my tax dollars? Furthermore, I do not think this decision was an anti-Yonkers sentiment. I used Sprain Ridge pool for many years before the troubles began in 2011, and I live in Greenburgh.”
We agree with Woldman. If Sprain Ridge Pool were located further north in Westchester County, would the people and the taxpayers stand for it to be closed for eight years.
The troubles with Sprain Ridge Pool began under former County Executive Robert Astorino, who for several years did not include the capital funds required to re-open the pool.
“For eight years Astorino was the CEO of Westchester County,” said Robert Mozion, another one of our readers who used the large pool for swimming laps. “He gets the credit when our county taxes came in year after year at a 0 percent tax increase. But when a massive failure like what happened at Sprain Ridge Pool occurs, he must also take the blame. Don’t sugarcoat it for him.”
Latimer explained that the large pool will not be painting for swimming laps immediately, in order to prevent any more delays in getting that pool open and available to everyone this summer.
Astorino proposed closing the pool and selling it to the City of Yonkers for $1. Despite approving capital funds to fix and open Sprain Ridge Pool in August 2015, the county was slow to move on its reconstruction, with no work done in the summer of 2016.
Then in 2017, in the middle of a re-election campaign for county executive, Astorino found the funding required to open the pool and held a press conference touting the opening. But what was later learned by incoming County Executive Latimer was that while $8.8 million was bonded for Sprain Ridge Pool, the bids for the pool came in at $14.5 million, and the work on the pool was re-bid in pieces to keep the total cost under $10 million.
More importantly, the work on the pools at Sprain Ridge in the summer of 2017 were done quickly and improperly, resulting in Latimer coming into office and having to explain that the $7.7 million reconstruction of the pool included shoddy work performed too quickly, resulting in the pool’s closure for another summer. Latimer added that an investigation was underway to determine how the capital improvements could have gone so wrong, and that the county was looking into getting insurance payments or reimbursements for the faulty worked performed, which resulted in a major pipeline burst below one of the large pools at Sprain Ridge.
Sprain Ridge Pool is not just a “Yonkers pool,” it is used by residents of Greenburgh and Scarsdale, and by residents across the county. Its convenient location, just off the Sprain and Saw Mill River parkways, makes it accessible to all. This reporter used to use the pool with my family 10 years ago, before politics got in the middle of a good swim.
In October 2018, Latimer updated the public on the status of Sprain Ridge Pool. More than three months after the activity pool had to be dug up because of leaks, and two months after construction began on the competition pool, Department of Public Works and Transportation officials said they were on target to have the pools ready for the summer.
“The most important thing is that these pools are constructed correctly and carefully,” said Latimer earlier this year. “When the temperature rises in June, I want to see people enjoying these pools – not looking at an empty pool through a fence.”
Sprain Ridge is a complex including a long-closed lap pool, a recreational activity pool, and a spray deck for children. The activity pool and spray deck opened in 2017.
We have written this time and time again for eight years: To have a county-operated pool in Westchester – one of the richest counties in the country – closed for eight years points to a failure in our county government and a failure in the ability of our government to deliver the capital improvements the taxpayers have paid for.
Latimer appears to have finally fixed the situation, and on behalf of the thousands of families, campers and swimmers who will now enjoy the pool in August, we say thanks – and happy July 4th, Westchester!
