The indoor pool at the Arnold Recreation Center, 1695 Missouri State Road, was closed at about 4 p.m. today (Jan. 10) for precautionary disinfectant reasons, the city announced on its website.
City Administrator Bryan Richison said the city was contacted by the Jefferson County Health Department today about a potential problem with the pool, and the city decided to close it.
“Honestly, we are playing it safe,” Richison said. “We are thinking what could be the worst-case scenario, and with an abundance of caution, we decided there is no reason to take the risk for people to swim a little bit. We closed it, which is an overabundance of caution and not a necessary step.”
The Health Department is expected to inspect the pool Friday morning (Jan. 11) to determine if there is a problem that needs to be resolved, Richison said.
He said the issue with the pool did not occur today and could have happened a few days to more than a week ago.
“We were not aware of any issues or concerns, and today, we received notification and some information from the Health Department, and they wanted to come down,” Richison said.
“We are probably using more caution than is needed, but at the end of the day, depriving people a couple of hours of swimming time, I think, is the better thing to do than take any risks,” Richison said.
He said the pool will remain closed Friday and possibly through the weekend.
“A lot depends on what I hear (Friday), and if we need to do a disinfection procedure,” Richison said. “I hope to have more clarity (Friday).”
The indoor pool typically is open from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 5:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday.