BOZEMAN — Bozeman residents have gone without an indoor pool for nearly five months. Construction starts now on emergency repairs at the Swim Center. Swimmers only have to wait a few more weeks before than can take another dive inside.
“For sure October first but if it gets open earlier that will be the frosting on the cake,” says Bozeman Assistant City Manager, Chuck Winn.
The city remains hopeful for something sweet, as long-awaited emergency repairs begin on the Swim Center which closed its doors to the public in May.
“The contractor is starting work on Tuesday morning,” says Winn.
This kicks off about four weeks of construction. The city closed the center because of concerns about the structural integrity of the building.
“Include repairs to the top cords of the truss assemblies to bring them back to the strength they were designed for and the strength that we need to have for the snow loads this winter,” says Winn.
Swimmers at Bogert Pool say they are thankful Bogert has been open as long as it has been this summer. They are worried as we head into the colder weeks that Bogert might close and they might not be a spot to swim for an extended period.
“Our plan is to keep Bogert open as long as we have staffing and as long as the weather allows us to,” says Winn
Yet as the city’s aquatics facilities are pushed to the limits, the time to look for more options begins.
“In this county of 120,000 people, we need more aquatics facilities around,” says Winn.
For now, swimmers say they will still use Bogert as long as they can keep doing so.
