The High School South swimming team is still waiting. The new bubble to be constructed over the school’s pool has been delivered successfully, but inclement weather has delayed its installation, school officials reported on October 27.
The installation was delayed yet again when concerns arose with the secondary inflation unit, which does not have the louvers necessary to inflate the bubble. Without the louvers, air would constantly flow out of the unit, thus preventing inflation, according to information posted on the district’s website on November 3.
Officials said in the statement that they expected the inflation of the bubble to take place at the end of the week. Currently, the site is “undergoing final preparations for inflation.” Meetings with the contractor will continue on a weekly basis until the project is completed.
Delays in construction of the new structure caused worry among members of South’s swim team, as well as parents and coaches, who feared the delays would hamper the team’s ability to continue its recent success. Last season the girls were state champions. Since the swimming program’s inception, it has won five state championships, including last year’s title. And it has made it to the state finals over the past three years.
School officials have said they are doing everything they can to have the bubble installation — part of the 2006 construction referendum — finished by Monday, November 16, when the swim teams begin practicing for the upcoming season. The season officially begins on December 1.
The bubble, an air-tight structure that guards against the winter weather, is removed during the spring and summer seasons for use by other community groups.
Complications with state fire codes led the board to rewrite the bid specifications, delaying the process, before the project was awarded in March to AC Construction Corp., of Woodbridge, for $446,000.
During the summer, no work was done on the bubble because the contractor had not been meeting the time schedule school officials set, but administrators have said they are doing everything in their power to get the bubble installed before the beginning of the season.
