I was thrilled when the Albany Pool opened this spring until I saw the paltry number of hours for family recreation swim during week. During Albany Unified School District’s (AUSD) spring break, I planned to take my kids several times. But there were only two hours all week when we could go.  I contacted Pool Director Amanda Garcia who told me there would be more weekday hours this spring. However, the spring schedule has only 5.5 hours. And furthermore, because we are Late-Birds (about half of AUSD kids in grades 1-3 are released at 3:05 p.m.), we are unable to take advantage of the 3.5 …

After basking in the glow of the grand opening of the new Albany Aquatic Center, we are facing a number of small hurdles. The center is open and construction is winding down, but there is an extensive list of little items that need to be either replaced or repaired. This is normal after any new facility starts operations. We anticipate that the contractors will begin demobilization in two weeks.We are facing a dilemma regarding the old "pool pass cards" that some people saved while we were under construction. After consulting with Director Garcia and the former Assistant Director Dunkle, the …

The new Albany Aquatic Center is proving quite popular, with classes full and some swim sessions reaching capacity, but some of the pool’s longtime patrons have been upset that swim passes left over from the old pool are no longer valid. Sally Hartley, of Albany, is one of those. The 85-year-old swims two to three times a week to help her arthritis, and is delighted the pool is open again. “It’s lovely, I like it very much,” she said. But she’s disappointed that her old 10-swim pass is not being accepted. She said she thought twice about buying it before the old pool closed in 2008, but “they…

A "great waiting game" ended Wednesday as excited officials, residents and project volunteers came together to commemorate the grand opening of the Albany Aquatic Center.  Albany Unified School District Superintendent Marla Stephenson said the process had been complicated, as was the project, due to extensive community input, a turbulent economy and tough decisions about how to get "as many things as we could" with the $10 million budget.  "It took us four years to get here, but it was four years well spent," said Stephenson, after describing the process as "the great waiting game."  In his …

[Editor's Note: This memo went out Thursday over the Albany schools email lists. Read more about the Albany pools here. Fee and class schedules, as well as pool rules, are attached to this story as PDFs.]  We are delighted to announce that the pool is filled and staff is hired at the Albany Aquatic Center. We are pleased to offer a variety of programs, classes and events to fit the many users and groups at our pool. A wide variety of programs will be offered throughout the year. Our programs will provide opportunities for individuals and families to participate in learning, exercise and …

[Editor's Note: This memo was posted on the Albany Unified School District website on Monday. Click the "Keep me posted" button below this story for updates on the pool. Read more about the pool on Albany Patch by clicking here. See photos from the construction project by clicking here.] We are delighted to announce that the pool is filled and staff is hired at the Albany Aquatic Center. We are pleased to offer a variety of programs, classes and events to fit the many users and groups at our pool. A wide variety of programs will be offered throughout the year. Our programs will provide …

[Editor's Note: Charles Blanchard was Albany Unified School District Board of Education vice president in 2007 and president in 2008, when the board decided to seek a bond issue to build a new pool. He chaired the Albany Pool Sustainability Committee in 2009 after he left the Board. The Sustainability Committee was asked to study the environmental and economic sustainability of the new pool. Read more here about the pool project on Albany Patch.] Albany Pool construction and operating costs were discussed at about a dozen public meetings in 2007 and 2008. All the questions that have been …

When the Berkeley High warm pool closed permanently last month, several Patch readers asked if Albany's newly renovated indoor pool could fill the gap.  Berkeley's pool, kept at a cozy temperature of about 92 degrees, was home to a variety of therapeutic programs.  Warm water exercise can be helpful for people with disabilities, certain medical conditions or injuries. Some seniors and children also prefer warmer temps. Berkeley's warm pool, operated by the city, was the largest in the near-area. The Berkeley YMCA runs a smaller warm pool, and there are 92-degree pools in San Jose, Palo Alto, …

Albany residents: Lately I’ve been reading on Patch some concerns about the school district’s pool project and what Albany residents were promised by Measure E supporters. For your reference, I’ve attached a copy of the main flyer that Measure E supporters produced and distributed. Given the economic tumult over the last few years, I think we should all be pleased. The district was able to do pretty much what it said it would do.  I was on the school board when we decided to rebuild Cougar Field and the Albany pool, and I concur with Peggy McQuaid and Ira Sharenow that our school’s sports and…

In the discussion over funding operating costs for the school pools, one commentator has posited that voters approved Measure E in Febraury 2008 because, “Most people did not realize (at the time) that a troubled housing market would lead to a collapsing financial market."   Yet most people did realize that the housing market collapse, which began in 2006, would have the effect of lowering property values and therefore property taxes, with a corresponding reduction in funding to cities and schools. In 2007 the Alameda Tax Assessor’s office announced it was reviewing the value of tens of …

[Editor's Note: Albany resident Saul Geiser shared these comments with Albany Patch following an article this week about Aquatic Center financing and the Albany Unified School District budget. A number of commenters took issue with several lines of our story, and this was Mr. Geiser's response. He agreed to our request to share his letter here.] Whether or not Ms. Grady's article is considered opinion, I think it is useful and important. I do take issue, however, with statements in the article suggesting that Measure E was passed at a time when public finances were flush, so that current …

Four years ago, when the Pool Improvement Bond Measure E was presented to voters, the literature asked if the community wanted to issue $10 million in bonds to replace an aging, decrepit swimming pool. It didn't ask whether voters wanted the school district to take on ongoing losses to operate a new aquatic facility. Yet now, weeks before the opening of two new pools built to replace the old one, the newly-hired Aquatic Center manager says to expect operating losses—because that is the norm for pool operations. "Correct," said Aquatic Center Director Amanda Garcia, when asked if she expected …

As the sun set Wednesday evening, a small group of neighbors, officials and other interested parties took a tour of the Albany Aquatic Center construction site. Construction manager Tom Murphy said the pool could be open to the public in January.  Murphy said the pool will be ready for plaster on Dec. 23, but that the holidays would delay the final steps in construction. "We don't want to be doing that [plastering] going into Christmas," he said, "and the following week there's a labor shortage." Rather than rushing the plaster job and the filling of the pools, project manager Devin Kokotas, …

Pool construction crews punctured an auxiliary water line to Albany High School on Tuesday, Dec. 6. Water flowed down Portland Avenue, going past the corner of Key Route Boulevard. The flooding began at about 1:30 p.m. The president of the school's H2O Club, Melinda Lyall, expressed disgust about the excessive wasting of water. The main concern by other Albany High students, however, was whether the pool construction would be delayed because of the flooding. Water to Albany High School was shut off while construction crews worked on repairs, but had been returned to students as of 1:45 p.m. "…

The school board on Tuesday night approved a request to push back the Albany Aquatic Center completion date to Dec. 23. But the delay itself won't cost the district, said pool construction managers, as the work during the final 49 days will be covered by contractor McCrary Construction and Bollo Construction, the project manager. Tuesday night's change order did, however, include a request for $84,147 from the project's contingency fund. A major portion of this, $51,318, will cover costs to move electrical and fire alarm equipment for the Gen7 classrooms. (The other costs are included to the …

The delivery of the wrong storefront windows for the Albany Aquatic Center has cost the project four to five weeks, said construction manager Tom Murphy, in a presentation to the school board on Oct. 18. Murphy told the board the wrong sort of window "was sent" by the manufacturer, and that getting the right version would take time.  "He has to go out and purchase raw material," said Murphy, of the manufacturer, then ship it, treat it and have it assembled with mullion supports. "We're doing everything we can to make this (time) up."  He said he couldn't announce a completion date until the …

The Gen 7 classrooms have been set up during the construction of the Albany Aquatic Center.  READ MORE Modular Hipsters? It's Plunk Down Time for Albany High's New Prefabs School Board to Discuss New High School Classrooms Tuesday Night New Albany Pools Could Cost Just $6.2M to Build Get alerts when we write about the Aquatic Center construction by clicking the green "Keep me posted!" button below.

Reader Cordy Driussi shared this comment on an Aug. 3 story, "Albany Pool Construction Delayed, Again." Well, is the majority of the loud work done? Last year the classrooms most affected by the noise were the Choir, Band, Art (maybe Dance?) and others in the Fine Arts building. The new classrooms will be really close to the construction, as well. I remember the sign saying May 2011, then June, then Summer 2011, and as we left school, October. Isn't Summer the ideal construction time? There should be a push to finish construction like this while the students are out. I know that's what …

The school semester may be just around the corner, but not the completion of the Albany pool construction project, as was previously planned. At the Albany school board meeting Tuesday, David Burke, the pool construction project manager, explained why the completion date for the new Aquatic Center has been pushed back yet another month, to Nov. 4. “We’re not happy about adding 101 days,” said Burke to the three board members in attendance. (Members Jonathan Knight and Ron Rosenbaum were not at the meeting.) “But that’s the best situation right now.” Forty-one contract days were added because …