KENT, Conn.—Residents will have to wait longer—perhaps years longer—before the Emery Park swimming area is restored to use.
Members of the Parks and Recreation Commission convened at the pool last week with representatives of Cardinal Engineering and Candide Contractor to assess the site and received both good and bad news.
Cardinal Vice President Timothy Cermola told the group that while the masonry and underlying stone that surrounds the spring-fed pond is probably sound, the skim-coated cement walls are not.
“Most of this is just falling off,” he said. “A good tap of a hammer and that’s going to come off. It’s all hollow. So that’s why we say it really has to be taken off to get back to the stone walls and start from there. We’re pretty confident that there’s no rehabbing the current concrete.”
The stone walls underneath the cement are another issue. The contractors saw little sign that the walls were deteriorating but cautioned “there are questionable areas we are not sure of” that require further investigation. The concrete bottom of the pond also needs to be assessed “to see what’s under there.”
Cardinal Engineering has been hired to create a master plan for the entire park and Cermola said it is necessary to determine what lies behind the concrete so the plan can reflect a long-term solution to the pool’s problems.
“This is where the money is well spent,” Cermola said. “In our analysis, we’re going to look at lifespans. Then you compare the two and decide what’s best for the town.”
He predicted the cost of rehabbing the pool “will be a million-dollar project.”
The town currently has $400,000 in capital funds available for the swimming pond restoration, as well as an additional $100,000 in funds from the American Rescue Plan Act that must be expended by Dec. 31 or returned to the federal government. Another $100,000 in capital was allocated towards upgrading the playground and could be redirected to the pool project.
The pool, which is spring fed, was created by a previous landowner before the town took possession of the park. It was expanded for public use in the early 1960s. In the past, it has had 75-foot lanes for the town’s swim team and a diving board at its deeper end. The shallower end tapers to a sandy beach where younger children can play.
The pond has been closed since before Covid and the diving apparatus removed, leaving the town high and dry with the only public swimming area at Waramaug State Park. A municipal pool has been listed as a priority by residents and there has been much discussion about how that can be achieved, with a splash pad proposed for Kent Common and talk of creating a municipal pool at Kent Green, both of which ideas are currently tabled.
Under the leadership of Parks and Rec Director Matt Frasher, emphasis has again been placed on restoring the Emery Park pool. The commission has grander plans for the entire park, including a pavilion, an office, bathrooms and showers, and handicap access to the facilities, but opening the pool is its primary focus.
There are questions to be answered, however. Should the pool remain at its current size or be made smaller? Should it be an even depth of five to six feet, which would help to make the water warmer, or have a deeper end where people can dive in? Should the wide, oblong section that accommodated lanes for the local swim team be narrowed in the new design?
Frasher noted that there is less chance of an accidental drowning if the deepest point is no more than five feet. “The state parks do that for their state swim areas,” he said. A shallower pool also allows more bathers to be in the water, with deeper water meaning that fewer swimmers can access parts of the pond.
The Parks and Recreation Commission had hopes of opening the pond by July. Now, it appears the master plan, which will guide future initiatives, will not be ready until the end of summer.
