Campers enjoy the pool every summer. But once every four years, the Town has to fix a major leak.
At the end of June, the town pool was the busiest place in the community, as contractors and town employees worked together to slow a leak. Members of the work crew were impressed by the number of people trying to fix the problem.
The joint effort appeared to be successful. By mid-July, Town Supervisor Richard Randazzo reported that the leak was reduced to about half of what it was.
It’s a problem that seems to recur in years with presidential elections. In 2008, a Sonar leakfinder discovered 14 holes in the pipes. The Town closed the pool for the summer, spent $13,500 on repairs, and arranged for pass-holders to swim at NYMA.
Four years later, as the major parties prepared for another convention, the problem resurfaced. The need for patchwork caused the pool to open a week late.
Once again, NYMA made its facilities available. But this time, they weren’t needed for very long. The town opened the pool in July, although it was losing an inch-and-a-half of water every day. By the end of the summer, the Buildings and Grounds Department reported that the water bill for the pool was $1,528.
The Town Board considered remedies, but decided they were too expensive. A new liner, in 2008, was priced at $145,000. A new pool would have cost more than a half million dollars.
The old pool was aging. It had been a gift from the Ogden Foundation when Cornwall purchased the grounds for the Town Hall Park in 1952. Ralph Ogden, of the Star Expansion Company, also paid for some of the Town Hall renovations, and later funded the roof replacement for the Sands Ring Homestead.
In recent years, the pool has not been self-supporting. The cost of filling, repairing and staffing it has been greater than the revenue from memberships. The Town has continued to open the pool as a service to its residents.
Hopefully, the most recent effort will keep the pool in good working order for a while — at least till the next presidential election.