MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — The pool at War Memorial Park will be closed this weekend because it had to be drained in order to repair a leak.
Executive Director of Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks & Rec Steve Catlett tells WEPM News that park staff noticed that the pool was losing water about a week ago and then it became more significant.
JED Mechanical, a company from Virginia, identified the issue on Tuesday.
There were two joints in a single pipe that were leaking, they discovered. In order to repair it, the pool had to be completely drained.
The pipe will be repaired once a special membrane piece is installed in the damaged pipe which will reseal it.
Catlett hopes the piece arrives on Friday or Saturday at the latest. Once the pipe is sealed, the pool will be refilled and be ready to immediate use. Catlett is aiming to reopen the pool next week.
He says that with the age of the facility, repairs are just bound to happen.
“It’s just something we have to deal with,” Catlett said. “It’s unfortunate but the pool is 20 years old now. So we’ll just have to deal with it when it happens, try to get it fixed and move on.”
The pool season got off to a rough start after bad weather over the Memorial Day weekend forced parks and rec officials to keep the pools closed Saturday.
Catlett was hoping that the unusually early start to summer in area schools might help them make up for lost revenue.
The Martinsburg City Council increased their subsidy again this year to keep the pool at Lambert open for public swim.
Catlett said that pool will open Friday as planned.
Summer hours are Monday through Friday 12:00pm to 5:00pm, Saturday 12:00pm to 6:00pm, and Sunday 1:00pm to 6:00pm.