The £50,000 project to replace every tile in Burnham-On-Sea’s swimming pool got underway this week and immediately hit a setback when it emerged that the scale of the problems is worse than first thought.
The owners of Burnham Swim and Sports Academy, Mark and Sara Cox-Conklin, have received the “disappointing” news that the necessary repairs will be more extensive – and expensive – than hoped.
Mark told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Unfortunately, the work is bigger than expected.”
“The team has found that water has seeped in behind the tiles onto the concrete rendering and then the chlorine has turned the rendering into a sand-like material. This is why the tiles have been coming off the pool’s walls over the past year.”
“It is a huge job and means the costs have risen by an extra £6,000 to £52,000 and will take longer to complete.”
“However, we allowed some extra time in our schedule and still expect the whole project to be completed within six weeks and the pool to re-open on January 25th.”
He added: “We’re determined to get the problems resolved once and for all.”
“We have employed the best team of specialists and, once completed, we will have three layers of rendering over the pool’s concrete base.”
The repairs come after a wall of the pool partially collapsed last December and a large number of tiles came off the side in several places earlier this year.
Mark stressed that the centre’s popular Starbucks cafe, cardio studio and sports shop will continue to be open throughout the work over the festive period.
Burnham-On-Sea.com was first to report earlier this month that the sports academy’s £330,000 extension had been given the go-ahead by district council planners.
Meanwhile, Pontins at Brean is opening its pool to the public over the next few weeks on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7am – 9am while Burnham pool is closed. Entry costs £2.50 and users enter via the Security Gate.
