Architects tapped for public pool upgrades
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

Camarillo water lovers could be diving in by next spring.

The Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District Board of Directors approved a $65,000 contract to Thousand Oaks-based Jones & Madhavan Architecture Engineering last week to develop preliminary renovation designs for Pleasant Valley Pool.

Board member Nancy Bush said the firm will recommend to the board what should be included in the scope of the work. The board will approve the work it wants done, she said.

The Ventura County Environmental Health Division in June found three code violations at Pleasant Valley, the county's only indoor year-round pool. Some underwater lights weren't functioning, water in a restroom sink was too hot and the concrete decking around the 37-year-old pool was crumbling in places and has to be repaired or replaced.

The county also wants the park district to make sure restroom floors are kept slip-resistant.

If the park district did nothing to renovate the pool, the county would shut it down, and that "is not an option," Bush said. "We get a lot of use out of the pool. It's used by a lot of our constituents."

Board member James Reser agrees that repairs must be made so the pool can stay open.

"It just has to be done," he said. "Right now it's the only pool in the community and it's used extensively."

The city's other public pool, at Freedom Park, closed several years ago.

Amy Damron-Stewart, park district recreation supervisor, said it is hoped that construction will begin in early January and be completed in April.

But first Jones & Madhavan will have to create preliminary plans and review them with the board of directors. After the board approves the work, the job will be sent out for construction bids. Work should begin shortly after the bid is awarded.

The work is expected to cost the district about $800,000, Damron-Stewart said. But the exact price tag won't be known until work begins and a thorough evaluation and needs assessment of the infrastructure is done, she said. "This is all an estimate; it could be more or less."

Damron-Stewart said more information on the progress of the project could be available at the board's Sept. 13 meeting.