by Chris Munzing
The hunk of concrete, which Superintendent of Recreation Robert Carroll said looked like an icicle, came from the existing concrete roof above the newly installed drop ceiling. After falling through the new ceiling, it landed in a corner of the facility's balcony. "Not one piece fell into the pool or onto the pool deck," said Carroll.
Carroll attributes the falling concrete to water damage that has built up throughout the years. "From the water sitting up there, it seeped into the cement," he said.
The LiRo Group, an engineering firm, is currently inspecting the premises to determine whether any similar damage has occurred. Testing will be done on the existing concrete roofing next Tuesday or Wednesday, according to Carroll. He is optimistic that the facility will be reopened within the next two to three weeks.
In a letter to Long Beach Commissioner of Public Works Robert Raab, the LiRo Group suggested the immediate installation of safety netting below the supporting beams to prevent any further potential damage to the ceiling tiles and pool area. Netting would prevent any more falling chunks of the roof from penetrating the ceiling.
LiRo also suggested a full-scale analysis of the structural integrity of the roof to make sure that further problems do not arise.
"We have two engineers who are going over the entire roof area," said City Manager Harold Porr. "No serious flaws have been discovered at this point. We may be overreacting, but when it comes to people's safety you have to."
City Councilman Denis Kelly, however, believes that this incident is yet another example of the city's need to tear down the current facility and build a state-of-the-art recreation center. Kelly has been outspoken in his opinion, and has consistently voted against expenditures to renovate the 50-year-old facility. He said that LiRo provided the city with a study four years ago that said that the cost to build a new facility would be comparable to the cost of completely rehabilitating the current one.
"When you ignore the information that was given to you, things like this happen," Kelly said. "That facility is so old that you're just going to see more and more issues crop up. It's an old building that's been sitting next to Reynolds Channel for 45 years. You can't just make cosmetic changes."
His fellow council members, as well as Carroll, have stated their belief that the cost of a brand new facility would simply be too great for taxpayers to bear. They believe the most realistically cost-effective approach is a phased renovation.
"The question is, where do we go from here?" Kelly said. "We blew it, and shame on us."
