PaliHi Pools Almost Ready for Water

The highly anticipated $4.9-million Maggie Gilbert Aquatic Center at Palisades Charter High School should be open to the public for swimming by October 1. Construction workers began plastering the two-lane teaching pool and 12-lane competitive pool yesterday. On Friday, they plan to begin filling the pools with water, which should take one day for the two-lane pool and 36 hours for the larger pool. ‘Both pools should be completely filled with water by the end of the day on Saturday, the 11th,’ Ben Lunsky, owner of Sarlan Builders, reported at the PaliHi Pool Committee meeting on August 31. Lunsky’s crew began work on the state-of-the-art aquatic center in March 2009. While the pools will be glistening with water when school starts on Monday, students and community members won’t be able to swim until the plaster is cured and the water filtration system is working properly. This will take about two weeks, according to PaliHi’s Interim Executive Director Michael Smith, who has focused on completing the aquatic center all summer. Brian Barry, a certified and approved project inspector for the Division of the State Architect, will also need to approve the project. PaliHi officials had to submit plans and specifications to DSA for review and approval before beginning construction. Then they were required to hire Barry to ensure that all work is constructed as indicated in the approved documents and in compliance with the California Building Code. The L.A. County Health Department gave its approval after inspecting the gates and fencing on September 1. The department was required to check the area to ensure it was secure before the pools could be filled with water. Within the next three weeks, PaliHi’s new aquatics director, Andrew Cervantes, plans to release a pool schedule on the school’s Web site, www.palihigh.org. The aquatic center will be open to the public for recreation and lap swimming during non-school hours during the week and on weekends, Cervantes said. School hours are 7:50 a.m. to 3:20 p.m. ‘The actual times are forthcoming and may include Saturday and Sunday afternoons [for recreational swimming],’ Cervantes said. ‘We are looking to host a Free Family Swim weekend soon after opening to let all our neighbors and supporters come in and enjoy the pool for free.’ The fee for swimming will be $4 for children under 18 and $5 for adults. ‘I am also working on a reduced fee for students and seniors,’ Cervantes said. To pay for ongoing maintenance and upkeep of the aquatic center, school leaders plan to rent the pool to aquatic user groups during non-school hours. Aquatic groups will be required to obtain their own liability insurance. Westside Aquatics has already secured four to seven lanes from 5:30 to 7:30 a.m. and the entire competition pool from 4 to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Cervantes is looking to rent out the two-lane teaching pool in the afternoons during that time slot. ‘We are currently in contact with several other groups and should have three or four more secured in the coming weeks,’ Cervantes said. Cervantes is especially searching for an adult water polo team interested in renting the entire competition pool in the evenings after 8 p.m. In anticipation that the aquatic center would be completed this spring, several groups had expressed interest in renting the pool this summer. PaliHi did not collect any money from these groups, Cervantes said. ‘We are looking forward to working with groups that showed interest in renting water time this summer in the summer of 2011,’ he added. The new aquatic center will feature men’s and women’s locker rooms, which will mainly be used by the public, Smith said. PaliHi students will use the nearby locker rooms in the school gym. Each locker room at the pool site will include two bathroom stalls, two showers and a changing area. The pool office will be next to the locker rooms. PaliHi has raised $3.14 million of the $4.9 million needed, according to Chief Business Officer Greg Wood. PaliHi English teacher Rose Gilbert has donated more than $2 million of that money toward construction costs, and the facility will be named after her late daughter and swimmer, Maggie. To complete the project, Gilbert also gave the school a $750,000 loan and PaliHi secured a loan up to $1 million from Bank of the West. Jeanne Goldsmith, a consultant hired to raise money for the pool, said fundraising efforts continue and that PaliHi will host a Swim for Pali event this school year. Individuals, businesses and organizations may still purchase a lane for $50,000 and have their name displayed on it. Two groups may also split a lane for $30,000 each. Six of the 14 lanes are still available. Naming rights for the scoreboard are available for $150,000 and the instructional pool for $350,000. Goldsmith is available to give tours to potential donors. Contact her at (310) 454-9033. Cervantes is in the process of hiring four senior lifeguards and at least 20 lifeguards and junior lifeguards. ‘We will be providing a highly trained lifeguard staff during all rental times, school times and recreational and lap times,’ said Cervantes, who worked for more than 10 years with the Los Angeles County aquatics program. ‘Safety is our highest concern.’ He encourages local residents interested in working as lifeguards, especially adults willing to work during the school day, or aquatic groups interested in renting pool time, to contact him at pool@palihigh.org.