Moran Water Park pool closed

The six-lane lap pool at Moran Water Park has been closed by the Lombard Park District due to safety concerns over deteriorating conditions.

"About 75 percent of our facility is still open and safe," Parks Executive Director Paul Friedrichs said Thursday.

"Unfortunately," he added, "the pool's 14-year-old liner basically expired."

Persistent leakage at the lap pool had Lombard park commissioners questioning whether that part of the water park could open for the 2008 swim season.

At this week's park board meeting, commissioners learned that it would cost an estimated $91,000 to replace the rubber liner, which has been losing its adhesion to the floor of the pool for about two years, officials said.

On Wednesday morning, maintenance workers found portions of the liner floating in the water, Friedrichs said.

"The bubble rose to the surface," he said.

Parks officials contacted the district's insurance company and aquatics professionals.

"They agreed with the decision to shut down the pool," Friedrichs said.

Though Moran's two water slides and zero-depth pools will stay open, a letter will be sent to 881 families with Lombard season pool passes informing them they can use their passes to swim at pools in Addison, Glen Ellyn, Itasca and Villa Park, Friedrichs said.

District residents also can expect to receive a capital improvements survey to gauge what public support, if any, there is for a possible tax increase to pay for a major overhaul at the water park.

Renovations, which would cover the pool's filtration system and main pool, could cost between $5.5 million to $6 million.