Fun pool to stay closed
A pool at Stourbridge's Crystal Leisure Centre will remain closed until mid-January after it was discovered more work was needed at the site.
The fun pool at the centre in Bell Street, which attracted hundreds of swimmers every week, is now set to re-open on January 12 - nearly two months after it was first closed due to health fears caused by a faulty extractor fan.
The pool was originally due to be up and running again on Wednesday this week following the completion of work to fix the fan and re-tile the pool, which features a wave machine, "rapids" and a giant slide.
But after the pool was drained, more work, including grouting around a number of tiles, was discovered, forcing bosses to push back the planned re-opening time once again.
It means the attraction will miss out on trade from families wanting a splash about in the pool during the Christmas holidays.
Officials have confirmed the centre is losing around £1,500 a week while the pool is closed. The cost of lost takings is now estimated at around £9,000 on top of the repair costs.
The pool was closed on November 27 after a party of children fell ill while using the facility. A faulty extractor fan was blamed for a build-up of potentially dangerous chlorine fumes and the site was closed for repairs. Bosses decided to re-tile part of the pool while it was closed - and have now admitted the site needed more work than first expected.
The rest of the centre, including the gym, sports courts and the 25-metre swimming pool, is still open.
Dudley Council spokesman Katherine Finney apologised to centre users for the extra delay in re-opening the leisure pool.
"While the leisure pool was closed for the extraction unit to be repaired, the council also took the opportunity during this off peak period to replace patches of tiling," she said. "Once the pool was emptied, it was found that more work was needed than expected and the pool is now due to open around January 12."
By Lee Watton
