After working through the summer months to examine what the problems were that caused the county-owned-and-operated Sprain Ridge Pool to close, Department of Public Works and Transportation officials have begun construction on leaks found from prior faulty work and hope that, come July 4 weekend in 2019, the pool will be open once again.
Sprain Ridge Pool has now been closed for eight of the last nine years. Former County Executive Rob Astorino’s administration repaired and re-opened the pool in 2017 during his re-election contest, which he lost to County Executive George Latimer.
The repairs performed on the pool under Astorino were not done properly, and Latimer’s administration uncovered the damage and had to close the pool again this summer. Let us be clear, as we have in the past; the closure of Sprain Ridge Pool is not the fault of the Latimer administration.
“The most important thing is that these pools are constructed correctly and carefully,” said Latimer. “When the temperature rises in June, I want to see people enjoying these pools – not looking at an empty pool through a fence.”
DPW Commissioner Hugh Greechan said: “Repairs to the activity pool are near complete, and the pool will be filled and tested during the week of Oct. 15. We are double-checking all of our work to make sure it is done right and we don’t have to close damaged pools again.”
During the years when the pool was closed, our readers demanded action from someone – either from Astorino or their county legislator. Our papers called for county legislators with influence over Astorino, perhaps during the budget cycle, to get the funding for the pool to re-open. That never happened, until Astorino’s re-election.
Another reader summed up our sentiments in this letter to the editor: “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 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.”
Two more thoughts on Sprain Ridge Pool moving forward: First, although we cannot prove this, the delays in opening the pool for more than six years led to the decay and repairs that are now required and are being paid for by the taxpayers in Westchester.
Second, in one of the richest counties on our country, there should never be a pool that remains closed. In fact, as Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins has stated, former Astorino moved forward with a new park and skating rink in Valhalla and left the Sprain Ridge Pool closed.
All of us, in the media and on the County Board of Legislators, and all of the residents of Westchester, need to speak out next time so that swimmers and most of all children can enjoy a county pool for their summer fun.
