Buffalo Grove's Willow Stream Pool to get update

Work will begin this fall on the renovation of Buffalo Grove's Willow Stream Pool that includes updating the bathhouse and installation of a water slide.

The 36-year-old pool, 600 Farrington Drive, "needed an overhaul," Mike Terson, the park district's public relations and marketing manager, told village trustees at a recent meeting. The improvements will bring the pool into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The bathhouse renovations include the addition of family changing rooms and relocation of the guard office out of the building to a separate area at Willow Stream. The new slide will have a separate landing shoot adjacent to the pool.

The pool's deck, shell and filtration system will be replaced, and a ramp entrance to the facility will be installed.

The projects will be going to bid soon and are expected to cost more than $1 million, though an exact figure isn't yet available.

The renovations should be complete by the start of next summer's pool season in late May, Terson said.

Park district officials originally wanted to remove the pool's diving boards and eliminate the deep water areas, while expanding the pool from six to eight lanes. But opposition from residents defeated the idea last year.

"Two-thirds of the pool was packed and one-third had two people," Terson said. "We thought it would be a better utilization of the pool."

And after the park district proposed building a separate diving well, the costs were later seen to be too high and soil conditions too poor.