NEWS

Hopkins: Small pool big splash

By Ed Kdonian
Posted 3/29/23

With the third largest swimming pool in the country as a backdrop, Mayor Ken Hopkins disclosed Monday a plan to redesign Budlong Pool and his intention to put the $3.5 million necessary for phase one …

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NEWS

Hopkins: Small pool big splash

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With the third largest swimming pool in the country as a backdrop, Mayor Ken Hopkins disclosed Monday a plan to redesign Budlong Pool and his intention to put the $3.5 million necessary for phase one of the plan into his proposed operating budget to the City Council on Friday.

Budlong Pool has been a topic of debate in the city since its closure in 2020 and the mayor’s first unveiling of his three-phase plan to overhaul the facility, reducing the size of the pool by two-thirds and adding other amenities.

At the city council meeting on February 27 Councilwoman Aniece Germain asked Chief of Staff Anthony Moretti where the $7 million necessary to complete the three phase plan would come from. At the time Moretti was unable to account for the funding.

“Is it fiscally responsible to plan a project and you don’t even know where the money will come from,” Germain asked regarding the expensive plan. “Something is just odd here.”

Before the meeting ended Germain said that the concern of the people is that they have a pool to cool down in the hot months. She also requested that Moretti, and by extension the mayor’s office, look into what the costs would be to repair the existing pool and to find out if there was a cheaper option than funding the $7 million three phase project.

In response to this request Director of Personnel Dan Parillo spoke before the Public Works Committee at their meeting March 16 on behalf of the mayor’s office.

“The mayor has agreed with the will of the council in making the original project smaller,” said Parrillo. “So it’s going to be a pool house and a bathhouse for the original price of about $3.7 million.”

While Parrillo said that the mayor agreed with the will of the council, the mayor said at the press conference that the plans he is putting forth are the same that were published in the Herald in January. If that is the case, it means that his original plans have not changed after a request for a more cost effective option for the pool facilities by the city council.

“We put Band-Aids for years on this facility, and that worked, but it no longer works,” Hopkins said. “The engineering report that I have said that this pool is no longer handicap accessible, it’s not safe.” 

The mayor said that there is no option to fix the pool and that it must be rebuilt. This statement goes directly against findings of the feasibility study performed by Federal Hill Group LLC that was published in April of 2022.

The study showed that the pool’s current condition included cracking in the pool’s substrate and foundations that caused constant leaking of water. Previous to being closed, the pool had to be refilled far more often than it should have, and constant refilling meant that far more treatment had to be done to the water to maintain its pH and chlorine levels which drastically increased costs of maintaining a safe level of water in the pool.

Three separate proposals of action were then outlined by the architects who conducted the assessment of Budlong pool. Option one of those was for the repair and maintenance of the existing pool as well as the bathhouse with upgraded and code compliant designs. This option also carries a smaller price tag at just $2.5 million dollars, instead of the $3.5 million dollars phase one of the mayor’s plans require, and maintains the size of the original pool that many Cranston residents have said is important to them.

“There are some officials in Cranston who do not want to take the time to understand the complexities of restoring a facility to make sure it lasts for many more decades and doing it in a way that is a prudent investment for our future,” Hopkins said.

While the cost of the pool’s renovation has been debated since the establishment of the three phase plan, it is not the only aspect of the redesign that has seen scrutiny. The remaining phases of the plan include amenities such as a splash pad for young children, a barbeque area and even pickleball courts.

“I see it as if it will be utilized more than if we left it the way it was,” Council Member Nicole Renzulli said. “They’re saying it is impossible to rebuild it as it is. I get the historical aspect, and I am very much appreciative of it. I even went to Budlong pool as a child, but if it is not going to be utilized the way it was many many years ago then I don’t understand why we would even make that consideration just for the point of history.”

The mayor will be submitting his proposed capital budget to the city council on Friday at which point it will be discussed and then referred to the Finance Committee. The proposed capital budget will be discussed and tweaked throughout the month of April until all parties have had a chance to discuss available options.

Budlong, pool, plan

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