City Purchases Pool Vacuum for Lions Field Swimming Pool, Closes for Season Sunday (08.11)

Twice in three days last weekend, the Lions Field Swimming Pool in Charles City had to be shut down to clean up  (according to Facebook posts) “bodily fluids” in the pool.

Those closures Friday (08.02) and Sunday (08.04) just happened to occur before the Charles City City Council Monday (08.05) night gave the go-ahead for Park-Rec Director Tyler Mitchell to purchase a new automated swimming pool vacuum.

Mitchell said the current manually-operated pool vacuum will need to be retired soon, but until then, it can still be utilized.

The new automated pool vacuum will cost the City about $11,000 and will be purchased from Carrico Aquatics, which Mitchell noted is the same company who will be doing the pool renovation project.

The City will make about $800,000 in repairs and upgrades to extend the life of the pool, already some 30-years-old. Fixxes are expected to begin after the current pool season comes to a close (Sunday, Aug. 10) and continue into the fall as weather allows. 

City Administrator Steve Diers said “substantial” completion of the project is expected by next spring to allow for the pool to be open for Summer 2025, with the remaining work to be closed out after that.