By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/Lincoln Chronicle
NEWPORT – The city’s only public pool is cracked, sinking and the subject of a lawsuit seeking $2.1 million from the contractor who constructed the city-owned pool seven years ago.
Built with nearly $8 million in taxpayer dollars from a 2013 bond, the pool will close to the public at some point to undergo more repairs.
Long cracks filled with white sealant run along the bottom of the lap pool, some the length of three swimming lanes. Along the concrete edges that border the body of water, there are cracks too.
“We started to notice unevenness; that the lap pool was draining unevenly and wasn’t level,” said parks and recreation director Mike Cavanaugh. That was back in 2021, when the pool was empty because of the pandemic, he said, and staff started to notice something was sinking, cracked and leaking.
An estimated 11,000 gallons of water was escaping every day before repairs, according to an April 2021 leak detection report. The report also noted the pool was sinking on its deep end.
“This, unfortunately, is likely due to poor or inadequate compaction of earth and riprap or other fillers used during construction,” the report read.
The pool had only been constructed five years before with the help of a $7.9 million bond passed by voters and $430,000 in transient room taxes. In 2013, Newport voters passed the bond which carries a rate of 45 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value to help construct the pool. It was a narrow race, with only 46 votes that made the difference.
The city was able to construct the aquatic center, adjoining it to the recreation center that neighbors city hall. The facility has a 25-yard, eight lane lap pool, a lazy river and a spa with an estimated 12,000 annual users including Newport High School’s swim team and swim club, according to the city.
City sues contractor
The city is seeking damages from the Lake Oswego based contractor, Pavilion, which it alleges constructed the pool with defects. The defects include cracking and settling inside and around the perimeter of the pool as well as deterioration of pool tiles and plaster inside the spa.
The complaint alleges these damages were caused by “faulty workmanship, inadequate supervision, improper coordination, improper repairs, improper or defective materials.”
The city is seeking an estimated $2 million for property damage, $100,000 for consulting and $50,000 for “loss of use” for the time the pool will close for repairs.
Pavilion did not respond to requests for comment.
The he city does not know when the pool will close for repairs or when they would take place, since the timeline is contingent on the legal proceedings, Cavanaugh said. However, with the upcoming construction of a new pool in Toledo, city officials say they will be mindful of the closure so that patrons have access to a pool somewhere.
The complaint was filed against Pavilion in 2023, but now has a trial date scheduled for July 23.
- Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, education, Newport, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at Shayla@LincolnChronicle.org
The City of Newport decided to go ahead with building the aquatic center at it’s current location as part of the Newport Recreation Center even after they discovered that a creek flowed directly underneath. Rather than halting construction and relocating the pool, the City agreed to the increased costs to stabilize the ground. Is that factor part of the City’s lawsuit against the builders?
Putting the aquatic center there was a bad idea from the start.