Three Scranton city pools will soon have handicapped-accessible lifts installed to comply with new federal rules.
Weston Field's indoor and outdoor pools and Connell Park will get the equipment that can lift and lower a disabled person into the water, said Linda Aebli, executive director of the city's Office of Economic and Community Development.
"They'll be in before summer, as soon as the weather breaks," Ms. Aebli said.
The lifts stem from adoption of the 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act's Standards for Accessible Design that call for accessible means of entry/exit required for swimming pools, wading pools and spas. The new requirements were supposed to take effect last year, but that deadline was extended by federal authorities.
OECD last week received six bids for the three pool lifts and awarded the low bid of $19,212 to a Kentucky firm, Recreonics Inc., Ms. Aebli said.
These three lifts are funded from federal Community Development Block Grant funding that can only be used in low- to moderate-income areas of the city, Ms. Aebli said.
The new ADA rules on pools do not affect backyard pools or those at apartment complexes, condominium or homeowner associations, unless those pools are used in a public way, such as for swim meets, the National Swimming Pool Foundation has said.
The rules also allow for possible exceptions for municipal pools, in that they must bring existing pools into compliance, "to the extent that it is readily achievable to do so," and "unless doing so results in a fundamental alteration in the nature of a (swimming) program, or in an undue financial and administrative burden," according to a U.S. Department of Justice overview of the standards.
It's unclear if the city's other pools - Weston Park, Capouse, Novembrino and two at Nay Aug Park - also will be getting ADA pool lifts, or whether the Capouse and Novembrino pools would be reopened this year after being closed the past two summers under the city's budget constraints. Efforts to reach city officials were unsuccessful.
Weston Field's indoor pool had a handicapped-accessible lift but it had been rendered obsolete by the new standards, city officials have said.
The new ADA standards call for a pool lift to be able to lift 300 pounds. Its seat must be at least 16 inches wide, the seat surface must be 16 to 19 inches from the pool deck surface, and the lift must have a footrest that moves with the seat. A lift's controls must allow for unassisted operation by the user from both the deck and water, and the seat surface must be able to submerge at least 18 inches into the water.
Installation requirements also must be met for compliance to be achieved.
Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com, @jlockwoodTT on Twitter