costing more to complete. But ….

costing more to complete. But Rudge is confident that the end of this pool project is in sight. It’s been a long road.

After surveying residents in 2018 and holding town halls to gauge LW support for either a renovation or replacement of the pool, the GRF Board voted in August 2019 for a renovation. The original plan was simple: a pool replaster, new decking and a locker room overhaul, with some work at the Golf Course, which has since been completed.

The project was originally estimated to cost about $750,000, but massive defects were uncovered during pool demolition in late 2019. Demolition exposed defective gas, electric, sewer and drainage lines; insufficient foundation supports; corroded conduits; broken plumbing pipes; rotted wall studs in locker rooms; severe cracks in the pool and spa shells; and missing footings under concrete block walls.

The project came to a halt as the GRF looked to hire an architect and engineers to design a whole new facility.

Ultimately, $1.5 million was earmarked to replace the pool and spa, and work on the Golf Course.

Rudge, who oversaw construction of a $62 million clubhouse, fitness center and perimeter overflow pool in Newport Beach before joining the GRF team, spends time every day poring over intricate engineering and architectural plans to make sure they will seamlessly interweave into a beautiful new pool for LW.

Builders must abide by state and local health codes. The model pool code by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which forms the basis for most local codes, is more than 660 pages. State codes will generally fill 50 or 60 at a minimum.

And Rudge is triple-checking it all—chemical room detail; storage tank containment pits; door hinge placement in shower rooms; pool backwash capacity; pool main drains and pit pump capacities; roof fan locations; concrete and vapor barriers; locker room ventilation; gates, openings and sidewalk locations; pool deck slope and surfaces; filter and pipe sizes; recirculation pump flow for the spa; flow meters and disinfectant feeders, among a thousand other details.

Even the pool finish color needs attention.

Why? Because a light color will help pool attendants immediately spot swimmers in distress, so the OCHCA requires samples of the waterline tile for the swimming pool and spa.

By late summer, all this behind-the-scenes work should pay off. The facility will boast a pool with five swimming lanes, a 30-by-30-foot activity area with a volleyball net, a 9-by-25-foot spa, new locker rooms and a lounge area in a reconfigured space to maximize potential.

In June 6,1962, Leisure World, Seal Beach, opened with a swimming and hot pool facility. Over the next five-plus decades, the pool complex had an average of 124 people per day taking dips.

While the wait to get poolside has been long, it will be well worth it once the new facility is open.