Fed Funds, Local Innovation Keys To New Pool At Vernon's Henry Park

VERNON, CT — It's going to be a pool at Henry Park and not a splash pad.

The Vernon Town Council this week made it official when members voted 10-0 with one abstention (Maryann Levesque abstained) to award a $1.247 million contract to Juliano's Pools of Vernon to replace Horowitz Pool at Henry Park. Town officials had been weighing the idea of a new pool versus a splash pad at Henry Park, but public outcry at Tuesday's council meeting tilted the scales in favor of a locally fashioned liner pool and in-house clubhouse renovations that will maintain the traditional look of the venerable aquatic facility.

Horowitz Pool opened to the public in August 1953 and was in service through 2019. In the early 1990s, town town undertook a renovation project "to extend the pool's useful life." Town officials said that Parks and Recreation and Department of Public Works staff members spent "thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours" maintaining and improving the pool over the past several years, but the structure is now 70 years old and is "beyond its useful life."

Since 2018, Mayor Daniel Champaign, council members and town staffers have examined a variety of options, including replacing Horowitz Pool. In addition to a splash pad, another idea was a year-round indoor aquatic facility and a seasonal outdoor concrete pool. The project cost of the indoor facility and outdoor concrete pool were in the millions of dollars.

In November, requests for proposals were sent out and the town conducted a series of walk-throughs of the pool site for all contractors interested in submitting proposals. A proposal from Juliano's Pools, submitted in December 2022, won out, officials said.

The plan is to remove the existing gunite pool and concrete deck, conduct necessary grading and earth work, build a new sewer line from the pool to the sanitary sewer on South Street, replace the concrete deck and install a new commercial-grade heavy-duty vinyl membrane lined pool that is the same size as the existing Horowitz Pool.

The pool liner will be 60 mils thick, three times thicker than a household pool liner.

The kiddie pool will also be replaced, officials said.

"The proposal from Juliano's Pools is a cost-effective way to replace Horowitz Pool," Champagne said. "Horowitz Pool is important to so many people in Vernon because it brings back fond memories and is where so many of us learned to swim."

Brian Juliano, owner of Juliano's Pools, said he learned to swim at Horowitz Pool and has a vested interest in "doing what is best for the community." He said the pool will have a lifetime warranty and that he intends to personally oversee construction, which is estimated to take 13 months.

"I spent a lot of time in that park and in that pool and it means a lot to me and my family," he said.
The projected lifespan of the 60-mil pool liner is about 15 years, Juliano said. Rips and tears can be easily repaired through a process called thermal membrane welding, which leaves the repair as strong or stronger than the liner, he said. Repair and replacement of a liner is a more long-term and cost-effective solution than a gunite pool, he said. It also is more resilient to New England winters, the freeze-thaw cycle and hydrostatic pressures, he said.

The Horowitz Pool reconstruction project will be paid for using American Rescue Plan Act grant funds. The Town Council unanimously approved using ARPA grant funds for the pool.

The Horowitz Pool house will be renovated by the Vernon Department of Public Works, also using ARPA grant funds unanimously approved by the council.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney was in his hometown of Vernon Thursday and hailed the decision to renovate the pool. He, too, swam there as a young man.

"As a Vernon resident and the town's Representative in Congress, I am extremely pleased to see the town’s decision to replace the Horowitz Pool with the use of federal American Rescue Plan funding. Both of my children learned to swim at the pool, and like so many other parents in Vernon, I was concerned that access to a high quality and high capacity swimming pool might be curtailed due to the aging infrastructure at Henry Park," said Rep. Courtney. "The bipartisan vote by the town council this week was the result of impressive due diligence by the staff to incorporate cost effective new technology to keep the Horowitz Pool at Henry Park open for years to come. The presentation by Juliano's Pools clearly demonstrated a path for the pool to stay open and safe for town residents. Grassroots efforts by community members also played a major role in the successful outcome."

Courtney was quick to note that the town’s decision to use the federal funding to replace the Horowitz Pool is "perfectly consistent" with the American Rescue Plan funding usage guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Treasury, which encouraged investment in outdoor recreational infrastructure.

Courtney added,"For Vernon children, access to a swimming pool is prerequisite for obtaining a fundamental life skill. The new Horowitz Pool will benefit the health of multiple future generations in Vernon. Congratulations to the Town Council and community members for coming to a fantastic, universally supported result for the town’s future."

Courtney said he voted to pass the American Rescue Plan in March 2021, and the law has since provided eastern Connecticut towns with federal resources to rebound from the pandemic. Vernon has received more than $8.6 million in direct American Rescue Plan funding. The U.S. Department of Treasury's guidance to towns on usage of these resources explicitly states that “outdoor recreation” is a supported use of funds, he said.