Orinda Park Pool

OPP Renovation Committee News

June 19, 2006:

The pool was filled last week and looks beautiful. We are wrapping up construction and required inspections this week and next and plan to open on July 1, 2006.

May 24, 2006:

We've been making good progress on the pool since the weather dried out. The contractor has been pouring the deck in phases for the past week. We are scheduled to fill the pool starting June 16.

One sad note: Our arborist found a defect (a large crack) in the large oak tree next to the basketball court. If the tree had failed at the crack, it would have fallen on the basketball court and the guard shack. For safety reasons, the Board voted to remove the tree.

May 8, 2006:

The Board voted this evening to rent swim time/space from Oak Springs pool for the month of June 2006. Details on when and how you can use the Oak Springs pool will be posted as soon as they are available. You can get information and directions here: Oak Springs

May 3, 2006:

Here's the latest update: the latest schedule to complete the renovation has us finishing approximately July 1, in time for the July 4 holiday and the OPP relays, but obviously much later than we would like. We are working now on finding pools that will agree to trade pool time with us in the interim.

April 11, 2006:

Rain Delay Letter

October 5, 2005:

The best way to get updates on the pool renovation is to sign up for the renovation email group: send an email with the word subscribe in the subject to renovation@yahoogroups.com. Every letter that we send to the members, and most other communications concerning the renovation, go to the renovation email group first.

The pool demolition is scheduled to start this week. Our scheduled completion date is still April 28, 2006.

Our financing turned out to be perhaps the most difficult part of our renovation project. It was touch and go throughout August and September, but we have raised the money that we need to do te construction. Our financing includes an anonymous loan of $200,000 from a member family and a short-term "bridge" loan from Bank of the West that will have to be paid off next spring, so we are continuing to raise money from members' prepayments of their assessments.

July 23, 2005:

Many of you have asked about the status of the pool renovation.

The City and the County are currently reviewing our permit submissions, and we are diligently following up with their requests for information.

The City has scheduled a meeting on August 16, 2005 at 7:00 p.m. to consider OPP's request to allow a fence and retaining wall contamination that exceeds the City's planning guidelines.

We have hired a new project manager, who has prepared a request for proposals to our chosen contractors. We are meeting with the contractors on Monday to orient them to the project and solicit bids.

Bill Fraser and Morgan Gilhuly are working on submissions to banks to obtain financing.

Our timeline is very tight, but we are still planning to break ground after Labor Day, and to have the pool finished by the start of the swim season next year!

January 20, 2005:

In November, 2004, we submitted our proposed pool design to the County for "plan check." In January we received the County's response. On January 20, 2005, renovation commmittee members and our architects met with the County to discuss the County's comments. Some of the County's comments are significant (in particular regarding the sloping walls of the pool), and the renovation committee is now discussing with the Board how to address those comments, either through design modifications or through a historic designation process.

We have changed our renovation email group. To receive announcements regarding the renovation process, send an email to renovation@yahoogroups.com. You will receive an email with instructions on how to confirm your subscription.

August 26, 2004:

At the Board's August meeting, the Board approved the design contract with the pool's architect and engineers. The work of preparing a detailed design for the pool will now begin. After the design phase, the next steps will be obtaining necessary County approvals and permits from the City, and putting the design out to bid to appropriate contractors.

Because we will not be able to begin construction this fall, the renovation of the pool will begin after the 2005 swim season. We would like to have begun construction this fall, but it was more important to involve the pool membership in the design decisions. That process took many months, and will likely continue with further meetings when detailed design drawings are available.

We will of course keep all of you informed.

May 24, 2004:

At a meeting of the Board of Directors on May 24, the members' votes for the 3 pool renovation options were tallied and discussed. As of the time of the meeting, the total votes were:

Option Votes
New Pool 9
Historic Option A 48
Historic Option B 67

Based on these votes and discussion at the meeting, the Board voted unanimously to proceed with Historic Option B (see image below).

The next steps in the renovation process are to obtain final county approval of the proposed design, finalize design drawings, and obtain a designation of the pool as a point of historical interest.

The Board and the Renovation Committee very much appreciate all of the member comments that were received. Many of the members made helpful suggestions for the design process. All of those suggestions will be considered by the Renovation Committee and the architect as we work to prepare detailed plans for the renovated pool.

May 21, 2004:

The Board's meeting to decide on a final pool design has been delayed to Monday, May 24, 2004. If you have not already submitted your comment sheet or otherwise indicated your preference for one of the final design options, there is still time to do so. Send your comments to the Renovation Committee at the bottom of this page.

May 5, 2004:

A letter illustrating the final design alternatives has been mailed to all members requesting their comments.

April 10, 2004:

Announcing an IMPORTANT MEETING concerning the RENOVATION OF ORINDA PARK POOL:

Place: Orinda Library/Community Center, Garden Room

Date: Monday, April 26, 2004

Time: 7:00 P.M.

The Renovation Committee of Orinda Park Pool will hold its second meeting with the members and our pool architect to discuss selection of a design for the renovated pool. This is an important meeting and we urge you to attend. The architect and the renovation committee will present two proposed designs to the membership for discussion. One design seeks to reconstruct the pool to match the existing pool with some safety upgrades. The second design is intended to make the pool fully compliant with the pool building code while keeping the same basic form and function as the current pool. Please come to the meeting!

March 8, 2004:

After an informative meeting with members on February 18, 2004, the Renovation Committee met with the pool architect and consultant last week to discuss alternative designs for the pool. We are expecting to receive proposed design options from the architect this week. The Renovation Committee will set up a meeting with County officials to discuss renovation options in the next week or two. The County must approve any design that we eventually select. Before a renovation plan is proposed, we want to make sure that the County will approve it.

February 9, 2004:

IMPORTANT MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT: Watch your mail for an announcement of a meeting with our architect and pool consultant. The meeting will be held on February 18 at 7:00 p.m. at the Orinda Community Church, 10 Irwin Way, in the Fellowship Hall.

The purpose of the meeting will be to allow our members to provide input to the architect and pool consultant before they begin work on a design for the renovated pool.

With the meeting announcement, members will also receive a questionnaire asking for preferences regarding the renovation. Please fill out the questionnaire and return it to our architect with any comments that you may have.

If you would like to participate in the renovation of the pool, attend the February meeting, subscribe to the listserv, or contact a member of the renovation committee: Tom Appelbaum, Gary Navo, Gretchen Latimer, Laura Abrams or Morgan Gilhuly.

Renovation Committee Background

The OPP board of directors is planning to renovate the pool starting next fall (2004) after the swim season. The objectives of the renovation will be to address subsidence of the pool, leakage, deterioration of the pool's piping, and the shallowness of the swim lanes (particularly the lane closest to the west side of the pool).

At its May 24, 2004 meeting, the OPP board of directors voted to proceed with "Historic Option B", shown below. The county may require alterations to this plan during the permit process.

Click here to send email to the committee.