Pool construction delayed again

It only took three weeks for Parks and Recreation Director Steve Kastens to get a schedule for completion of the Carson City Aquatic Facility.

The new completion date for Phase II of the pool: March 10 - more than six months after its original deadline.

The Aquatic Facility was supposed to be done in September 1999. Delays, including bad weather, pushed the completion of the first phase of the project into November and raised the $3.6 million price tag by $160,000.

Phase II was expected to be finished by Jan. 31, and then the first part of February. After more weather and construction delays, the date has moved into March.

Kastens has had problems getting a schedule from contractor American General Development and was considering assessing a $500 a day fine pursuant to the developer's contract with the city

AGD officials have not returned phone calls from the Appeal. "I've been instructed not to talk to you," Project Manager Ron Triano said in response to a Thursday phone call.

Kastens finally got his schedule Thursday, and the delays are justified by recent wet weather, he said.

American General workers are trying to put a roof on the new 38-foot by 20-foot therapy pool. Every time it rains, workers have to start over drying the materials. Without the roof, the interior can't be painted, causing a chain reaction of other small things that can't be done.

Also, plaster was planned for one portion of the therapy pool, but it needs tile, Kastens said, which causes a delay that is not the fault of the contractor.

The building around the 25-yard pool was demolished in November to create an outdoor pool with a water slide. The slide is 16 1/2- feet tall and includes 180 feet of slide, which is almost completely in place.

New mechanical rooms for the pools are under construction as well.

Kastens said the outdoor pool and its new slide could be open by May 1. The pool is smaller and takes less energy to heat than its 50-meter, 500,000- gallon predecessor, which opens around Memorial Day.

"My goal is to get this project done and to get the best facility at the best price for Carson City," Kastens said.

Phase I of construction at the facility included enclosing the 50-meter pool, work on outside heating and air conditioning and the reconfiguration of the dressing rooms. Phase I of the project went beyond its original deadline by 128 days and was finished in late October.