Pool Repairs Put Ocean City Back in the Swim of Things

At 86 years old, Rosemarie Madden stays in shape and has a great time by swimming in the indoor pool at the Ocean City Aquatic & Fitness Center.

She doesn’t swim just occasionally, but every day, she said.

Madden, an Ocean City resident better known to her friends by her nickname, “Ree,” had her daily workout interrupted during the last two months when the Olympic-sized pool was closed for repairs.

“It is very, very, very important. I missed it terribly,” she emphasized of not being able to swim at the pool for the first time in 25 years.

However, she and other swimmers who enjoy the pool were able to jump back again Monday following an extensive repair and renovation project that began Aug. 5 and cost the city about $792,000.

Led by Mayor Jay Gillian, a delegation of city, county and state officials and dignitaries celebrated the pool’s reopening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Dr. Fred Weber, a retired surgeon who regularly uses the pool, was given the honor of cutting the ribbon with an oversized pair of scissors.

“First of all, I want to thank everybody for their patience. I know that two months is a long time,” Gillian said of the pool’s lengthy closure.

Underscoring the importance of the pool for the entire community, Gillian said the city wants to add new programs at the Aquatic & Fitness Center now that the renovations are done.

“This is another one of those community things that we do where everybody benefits,” he said.

During his remarks, the mayor expressed his gratitude to the entire community, the pool members, the construction contractors and city employees.

    Mayor Jay Gillian holds the ribbon and Dr. Fred Weber cuts it using an oversized pair of scissors to officially reopen the pool.
  

Gillian also observed a moment of silence in memory of the late Tony Mazzitelli. The pool is named the Tony Mazzitelli Natatorium in his honor. Mazzitelli suffered from muscular dystrophy and used the pool a great deal to help him cope with his disability.

“That’s what Ocean City is all about. It’s always, who does it affect? This pool, this water, helps so many people,” Gillian said of Mazzitelli and others.

As part of the renovation project, a new handicap lift was installed to help swimmers who have disabilities or other physical challenges get in and out of the water.

Built 46 years ago, the pool was showing its age. The failure of a main drainage pipeline beneath the pool necessitated the repair project. During the repairs, the city took the opportunity to replaster the entire pool, install tiled lane markers and redeck the area around the pool with a new soft rubber surface.

The pool serves users of all ages and hosts programs for swimming lessons, a youth swim team, the Ocean City High School varsity teams, adult lap swimmers, adults with spinal cord injuries or disease, Special Olympics, senior exercise programs and scuba lessons, among other activities. Members check in to the facility more than 100,000 times each year, according to a city statement.

    Courtney Huff, a clerk at the Aquatic & Fitness Center, stands next to a "Welcome Back!" sign for the pool's reopening.
  

Dan Kelchner, the city’s director of Community Services, estimated that the pool has about 4,000 individual users annually. During the busy summer months, about 80 people per day use the pool, he noted.

“It is a tremendous resource for the community,” Kelchner said. “I can’t overstate how much usage the pool gets and how excited the community is to get it back.”

Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Rosemarie Madden and other senior citizens participating in a water exercise class became the first swimmers to use the pool since construction work began on Aug. 5.

Madden was so happy that she exchanged a high-five with her friend and fellow swimmer, Leslie Jordan.

“It’s wonderful here. It’s where I make the most of my fun,” said Jordan, 70, a retired executive assistant who lives in Media, Pa., and has a summer home in Ocean City.

When the pool was shut down, Jordan got her exercise at the Howard S. Stainton Senior Center, which is next door to the Aquatic & Fitness Center in the Ocean City Community Center.

Jordan emphasized that she was anxious to get back into the pool the entire time it was closed. She swims three to five times a week and has been doing so for eight years.

“It’s just so much fun,” she said. “I can do so much here.”

More information on Aquatic & Fitness Center programs and memberships is available at www.ocnj.us/AquaticFitnessCenter.

    Mayor Jay Gillian speaks of the pool's importance to the entire community.