As the city of Arnold continues to update the 18-year-old Recreation Center building, another repair project has been approved.
City Council members have agreed to pay Peters-Eichler Mechanical of St. Louis $743,454 to replace two pool paks, or large dehumidifiers, over the indoor pool area.
“It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but those units control the humidity and temperature in the pool area,” Parks and Recreation Department director David Crutchley said. “When they are not working, you get rust. The windows start fogging up. With all of the money we are investing in the pool, the pool paks are the heart of that system. They keep the environment controlled.”
Crutchley said the pool paks are expected to be delivered in November, and it will take about three weeks to remove the current dehumidifiers and install the new ones.
He said the pool may need to be closed for three weeks if both the pool paks have to be replaced at the same time.
“The units are hooked together, so when one is running the other acts as a slave, and if it needs to, it turns on,” Crutchley said. “They are piped together, but they are trying to figure out if there is a way to basically cut the pipes off one unit, take it out and put the new one in and then do the other one. If they can do that, we would be able to keep the pool open.”
Crutchley said only one of the two current pool paks is operating on an automated system, which allows it to turn on when it needs to pull humidity from the air. The other pool pak runs continuously.
“The control board is not working because it has become so corroded with rust,” he said.
Crutchley said along with the new pool paks operating on an automated system, another upgrade will be the coils inside the machines. The original pool paks did not have insulated coils, which has caused issues.
“Before it was just copper coils that would become corroded from pulling the chlorine and moisture out of the air,” he said. “The new pool paks will have coated coils. It is an upgrade from the non-coated coils we have now.”
He said because of the improvements to the pool paks, city officials have been told the machines will last between 20 to 25 years.
The City Council voted unanimously April 20 to approve the expenditure for the new pool paks.
Other improvements
The city has budgeted about $2,150,000 on improvements for the rec center. The projects are being funded through a $2,404,500 lease-purchase agreement with Commerce Bank that council members approved in August 2022.
Arnold paid $809,908 to Shay Roofing of Millstadt, Ill., to have the building’s roof replaced, and the city paid $59,975 to CI Flooring of St. Louis to install new flooring in the building’s meeting rooms, which also are used for exercise classes.
Crutchley said the roof above the indoor pool was completed in March, the section of the roof over the meeting rooms and offices was finished in April and the section over the gym was expected to be completed in mid-May.
Arnold also is paying $293,205 to SplashTacular Waterslides and Waterparks Attractions of Paola, Kan., to replace the staircase and steps for the indoor pool water slide.
The city also plans to replace two pulse boilers, a heat recovery unit, an ultraviolet unit and 10 2-inch hot water valves at the rec center.
“We have put a lot of money into the building,” City Administrator Bryan Richison said. “That stuff has worn out. It will be in much better shape once we are done with all the work. It needed it, and I am glad that it is getting done.”