Albany

Despite leaking a massive amount of water, the Lincoln Park Pool is functional and is scheduled to open as usual in the spring.

In the meantime, the city budgeted $100,000 to try to find the leak or leaks over the winter, but the problem may be unreachable without breaking through the concrete of the pool itself.

"We have to figure out what the problem is and that is what the study is for," said Dennis Gaffney, the mayor's spokesman. "And then we can figure out how to fix it."

The aging pool was a topic of conversation at Tuesday's night's Common Council meeting where City Engineer Randy Milano said the pool loses 500,000 gallons of water a day.

Even with the water loss, the pool is still usable, said Bob Ellis, recreation operation manager.

"Everything works," Ellis said Wednesday. "The pump system works great. The chlorination system works. It's just that we are losing a little bit too much water."

The city plans to open as usual in June whether the leak is fixed or not.

The Department of Recreation has also applied for a $487,000 grant to install a new pool liner.

Milano estimated Tuesday night that it would cost $4 million to $5 million to completely rebuild the pool.

The 85-year-old Lincoln Park pool opened on July 4, 1931. The shell-shaped pool is over two acres large and on busy days, draws more than 1,000 visitors a day. In news stories dating back to the year 2000, city officials said the pool was losing hundreds of thousands of gallons of water a day.

According to the city's application for the pool liner, the water loss at Lincoln Park accounts for about 5 percent of the city's total daily water usage. When a major water main break occurred this summer in downtown Albany causing a sinkhole and months-long water shortage, the city decided to close the pool to conserve water. The city bused residents to other pools, but by the time the water main was fixed, summer had ended so the pool did not reopen. "We have full intentions of opening it next year," Ellis said.

Amanda Fries contributed to this report

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