BY IRIS B. HOLTON

Sentinel City Editor

On Wednesday evening, Mayor Bob Buckhorn announced he would allocate funding to repair an East Tampa swimming pool. The pool closed three years ago.

During the regular City Council meeting last week, residents in the area criticized the city for not making repairs that would allow it to meet federal law requirements.

Santiago Corrada, Chief of Staff for the City of Tampa said, “We had always allocated $6.5 million to deal with some of our aquatic centers. That was never in question. We were waiting for a consultant to let us know exactly what was wrong and how much it would cost.”

Corrada further stated that although the pool has been closed for three years, the consultant only began looking into the cost in May 2011.

“The consultant gave us specific issues of what is wrong with the pool and an estimated cost of $1.2 million for the renovation. We could save money by not doing some things, but if we are going to do it, we’re going to do it right the first time.”

After hearing the cost of making the repairs, Corrada said Mayor Bob Buckhorn felt it was a reasonable amount. “He said, ‘Let’s move on it. Let’s get it fixed.’” [private]

Frank Reddick

Councilman Frank Reddick, who was very vocal about the issue during last week’s meeting said, “I am happy Mayor Buckhorn realized the Williams Park Pool is a valuable asset to that entire community and made the decision to get it repaired.

“I’m a very happy man right now. Before, I was very frustrated because I couldn’t understand why, after three years, nothing had been done to repair the pool. Now, everyone is happy the Mayor stepped up.”

Corrada also stated that the timeline in which the repairs are made also depends on the Hillsborough  County Health Department’s Building Department.

He also stated that some of the confusion occurred because there were two studies, the pool issue and a broader study of Williams Park, being conducted simultaneously. [/private]