Sheldon Pool and Fitness center will reopen next week after more than a year of construction, Eugene announced.
The 55-year-old facility in the Cal Young neighborhood closed in late spring 2021 for expansion and renovation and will reopen Monday, Sept. 26, the city announced in a news release. The renovated facility, which is next to Sheldon High School and connects to the Sheldon Community Center, will include a new indoor therapy pool, a spa and an expanded indoor pool, along with improvements to the locker rooms, interior finishes and pool equipment.
“We’re really excited to finally unveil Sheldon Pool to the community,” said Recreation Services Director Craig Smith in a statement released Monday. “The unique warm-water pool and current channel provide versatile programming space that serves fitness, recreation and swim lesson needs.”
Sheldon Pool’s renovation creates opportunities that don’t exist at the city’s other pools, Smith said.
Sheldon is the city’s oldest pool and previously closed in 2010 for seismic upgrades and in 2012 to repair serious leaks, according to a release from August, but the full overhaul completed in the past year ensures the pool will “accommodate the growing needs of the community as a key part of the citywide aquatics program.”
The project cost $10.1 million, with funding coming from the parks bond and levy passed in May 2018.
The improvements include:
Several delays, including supply chain issues and staff problems, pushed the pool opening from early spring of this year to the fall, and the city acknowledged the longer closure of one of the city’s three pools was “an added hardship to the community,” the announcement reads.
“We were disappointed the delays prevented the pool from opening sooner,” Smith said in a statement, “but we didn’t want to open a pool that wasn’t safe or ready to use.”
For more information about the 2018 Parks and Recreation Bond and Levy and other projects funded through the measure, visit eugparksandrec.org.
Contact city government watchdog Megan Banta at mbanta@registerguard.com. Follow her on Twitter @MeganBanta_1.
