$10,000 Leak at Du Quoin Pool

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Every morning, a valve to a two-inch water line that hangs over the diving board side of the Du Quoin Municipal Swimming Pool is opened to replace the thousands of gallons of water lost overnight by major underground leaks.

At this writing, those leaks during this season have cost the City of Du Quoin $10,000 or more.Commenting on the problem to members of the city council, water commissioner Rex Duncan warned, "The pool is losing water at a prodigious rate and I have concerns about the viability of the pool."

Du Quoin's swimming pool is part of the Robert M. Armstrong Recreational Complex and was dedicated on July 8,1979. On the eve of the pool's 30th anniversary, none of the options are palatable. If the pool is closed permanently it will eliminate a huge recreational asset in Du Quoin. The pool and its amenities was originally built at a cost of upwards of $400,000 and replacement could cost well over $1 million. The huge leaks seem to be in the underground plumbing that wraps around the pool, not in the pool walls itself.

Mayor John Rednour asked economic development consultant Jeff Ashauer to explore the possibility of a grant to find and repair the problem or to replace the pool. The pool sits on the site of the old West Park School, which was undermined.