ABC-7 LISTENS: Swimmers complain of problems at $15.5-million natatorium in West El Paso

An ABC-7 viewer sent a list of problems they’ve seen at the Westside Natatorium.

They write in part, “The ringer device for the swimwear doesn’t have a drain so someone put a trash can under it and it’s full of trash and moldy water.”

ABC-7 went to the natatorium and talked to several users who said they’ve seen the same problems.

Robert Carlson is a master swimmer and has been using the pool since it opened in 2018. He said they did a wonderful job on the pool, but fell short when it came to the locker rooms.

“Within the first couple of months, the ceiling was falling in the locker room, there’s no drain in the locker room area where people change, there’s no drain for the swimming wear (ringer device) dryer.” Carlson added, “The showers, the were broken within a week or two of opening up. It was like they used the cheapest material they could find.”

Carlson said he knows people have called the City about the problems, but has seen no progress when it comes to repairs.

“I was told a long time ago, that the only way we could present any complaint about these things is by literally calling city or city council.” Carlson said, ” Seems to me like a nonsense way to go about this. We have maintenance people. Can’t they just take care of this?”

City officials told me the spin dryers (used for swimsuits) are designed to drain on the floor and run down to the floor drain a few feet away.

Assistant director for the Parks and Recreation Department Steven Bingham said, “Our staff actually went ahead and put a bucket under there and then the go through and empty it into the floor drain so the floor doesn’t stay wet. There’s nothing wrong.”

Bingham wasn’t aware of any problems with the showers inside the locker room, but made a work order to get them fixed as soon he was shown.

The $15.5 million pool, approved by voters during the 2012 Quality of Life bond election, opened its doors in April 2018.

In August, only a few months after it opened, the pool was shut down. At the time, the Parks and Recreation Department said the moving bulkhead damaged some tiles. “The Parks and Recreation Department expected to experience some issues as part of the transition of operating this new type of facility,” the department said at the time.

In October, the bulkhead was damaged again. Ted Marquez, the deputy city manager for public works, said there was a leak in one of the containers. “The concern is that we cannot move it, and the only thing that affects is that we cannot make the pool usable for long swimming,” said Marquez at the time.

Marquez said they were two unrelated problems. At that time, the bulkhead was still under the manufacturers warranty and was supposed to be fixed at no cost to taxpayers.