{"id":63218,"date":"2010-06-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-06-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-reopens-pools-at-tootell-physical-education-center\/"},"modified":"2010-06-04T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-06-04T00:00:00","slug":"uri-reopens-pools-at-tootell-physical-education-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2010\/06\/uri-reopens-pools-at-tootell-physical-education-center\/","title":{"rendered":"URI reopens pools at Tootell Physical Education Center"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tCrews raced to repair damage caused by historic March, April floods<\/p>\n


\n\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 June 4, 2010 \u2013 The University of Rhode Island has reopened its instructional and competitive swimming pools at its Tootell Physical Education Center. The third part of the facility, the diving well, is expected to be opened in a matter of days.<\/p>\n


\n\tThe reopening of the aquatic center follows extensive efforts during the past 10 weeks by URI to get the facility operating after the record-breaking rains in March and April caused widespread flooding across the state.<\/p>\n


\nThe deluges caused the water table under the athletics complex on the west side of the Kingston Campus to flood the filter room in the Tootell Center. The 4-foot-deep water caused the filter room floor to buckle and damage filtration equipment for all three pools. The flooding initially kept crews from beginning cleanup and repairs.<\/p>\n


\nEarly in the process, URI officials weighed heavily the option of moving the filter equipment to another location. The estimated cost for the move and new equipment to replace damaged units would have been about $250,000.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cIn challenging budget times, that great an expenditure would have been difficult for the University,\u201d said Harry Davis, URI\u2019s assistant director of Facilities Services. \u201cWe were able to complete all the necessary work in the current location, and so we now expect the cost to range between $70,000 and $75,000.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe flooring has been repaired and the filters all have new motors and other equipment. All of the equipment is now functioning. URI personnel are in the final stages of correcting the water chemistry in the diving pool.<\/p>\n


\nThat\u2019s great news for the hundreds of URI students, faculty and staff who use the complex, as well as the 500 area residents who use it for swimming lessons, lifeguard training and senior swim programs. For full details on aquatics at Tootell go to http:\/\/www.uri.edu\/athletics\/recservices\/aquaticprograms.html.<\/p>\n


\n \u201cWe are back in business, and I can tell all of our patient clients that the University did everything possible to get the systems up and running,\u201d said Jodi Hawkins, URI\u2019s director of Recreational Services. \u201cWe are most grateful for the understanding shown by the URI and surrounding communities during this very challenging period. Well after the flooding subsided, we were working hard to repair the damage caused by such historic storms.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nShe said the competition pool, where the URI swim teams and local high schools train and compete and individuals swim laps, opened May 24. The instructional pool, where most lessons are taught, opened June 1. Customers who were taking lessons or involved in other programs when the center was closed have been given a credit for future programs. Tootell pass holders were credited for the inconvenience.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI have nothing but high praise for the URI staff, those in Facilities Services, including the plumbers and electricians, who worked so hard to help us reopen,\u201d Hawkins said.<\/p>\n


\nShe also said her own staff members Stephanie McCullick, coordinator of aquatics, and Sheila O\u2019Connor, aquatics specialist, put in extra time performing well beyond their normal duties.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cSheila was great working with our customers, trying to help them find alternatives or just trying to keep them informed,\u201d Hawkins said. \u201cStephanie has been in the pool and filter room areas constantly, working with the contractors and URI facilities people.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nLocal businesses also helped during the crisis with their pool facilities. \u201cThe South County YMCA picked up a lifeguard training review class, and it accepted some of our individual customers,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Hampton Inn in South County Commons also pitched in by letting us finish up a Red Cross Water Safety Instructor class there.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nMick Westkott, URI\u2019s head coach of women\u2019s swimming and diving is also breathing a sigh of relief that the facility has reopened, as are members of the URI men\u2019s club team.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cOur women swimmers and divers endured a spring workout without water by doing lots of cross training,\u201d Westkott said. \u201cWho would believe that these athletes, who spend up to four hours a day in the water throughout the season would have felt so lost without their water for so long? But they did. Needless to say we are happier that we are now back in.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nWestkott is also happy that his competitive summer swim camp, which enters its second year, can be held as planned. \u201cBecause of questions about the pool, registrations have been a bit slow. But it\u2019s a great camp, and we encourage young swimmers to register for the camp that runs June 27 to July 1.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThose interested in the camp can contact Westkott directly by e-mail Swim@etal.uri.edu or by phone 874-2005. They can find registration forms at the GoRhohdy.com web site. They should click on Inside Athletics, and then click on Camps. Finally, there is plenty of information down at the Tootell Aquatic Center.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Crews raced to repair damage caused by historic March, April floods KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 June 4, 2010 \u2013 The University of Rhode Island has reopened its instructional and competitive swimming pools at its Tootell Physical Education Center. The third part of the facility, the diving well, is expected to be opened in a matter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63218\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}